The Flames of Chaos
by blueper
Summary: Progress for progress sake; doing things without a reason; some men just want to watch the world burn. All it takes is introducing a little anarchy, upsetting the established order and everything becomes chaos. Take away the hero of Olympus, introduce an agent of disorder, and watch the fire start. But can it be stopped before it takes on a life of its own? ADOPTED from Anonemuss14
1. Revenge

**a/n **This is a story I adopted from Anonemuss14. The story idea and chapters 1-15 belong to her. They are her creation. All credit goes to her and her alone. She is an excellent author who decided not to continue. I quite literally begged to be allowed to adopt this story as it's excellent and couldn't allow it to remain unfinished. I doubt I will be able to do as good as she could have but I will do my best. I want to thank her again for allowing me to do this. If she ever does decide to write again, I would recommend reading as she is quite talented.

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**Part One: The Fall.**

_"Can you see it? Can you see the world in flames? Can you see the lives shattering and civilizations crumbling as they fall into Chaos? It is beautiful."_

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**Chapter One: Revenge**

Revenge is a strange thing. At times you hate it, but at others it is the most wonderful thing in the world. This was going to be one of those times.

"Are you sure you wish to go through with this?" Dr. Claymore asked. I owed much to him, his company and advice had been much appreciated these last few months, but his attempts to dissuade me were futile.

"Yes, Doctor," I said. "I've waited too long for this. I shall not wait any longer." Doctor Claymore look disappointed about my answer, but not surprised. He sighed and shook his head.

"I don't agree with your choice," he said solemnly.

"I know," I replied.

"But, I will not stop you," he continued. "Nor will I assist you in your plans." I nodded slowly.

"I will not require your aid in this, Doctor," I said. A weight was lifted from my heart at the Doctor's words. I knew that once everything was dealt with, things would return to business as usual. Beside, it wasn't as if I planned murder, only justice. Revenge.

"You are certain it can be done?" Doctor Claymore asked.

"Yes, it will be difficult, but it can be done," I responded. The Doctor had asked this question dozens of times already, and in return I offered the same response each time. My words were, in reality, euphemistic. The acts to be committed would be more than "difficult". If precautions were not taken, dying would be the least of my worries. I could not say this to the Doctor, of course. Though he technically had no power over me, his attempts to dissuade me would increase tenfold if he discovered the danger of my plans and I would eventually give in.

Doctor Claymore sighed again. "Let us get this over with," he said. "The sooner that you settle your vendetta, the sooner we can get to Rome."

"Too true, Doctor," I agreed. "We've wasted enough time already." I began to make my way towards the front of the bus with Doctor Claymore at my heels. The cacophony of noise that was Manhattan, New York greeted me as I disembarked the civilian transport. I glanced distastefully at the Empire State Building, or more accurately, at the mountain five hundred stories above it. The thick layer of Mist that surrounded the home of the gods did nothing to hide it from my sight. For a moment, the old dream of tearing it down brick by brick came to mind. I quickly pushed from my mind. I shouldn't dwell on the past. I smiled bitterly at the irony of the thought. Here I was, wishing to move forward with my life while plotting revenge on an enemy from the exact time I wish to forget. Doctor Claymore noticed me staring at the sky above the colossal building.

"Can you see it from here?" he asked. I knew that he wished to see it for himself, but he could not. Being a mistform gave him no more immunity to the Mist than anything else. His mind was open to more possibilities than before, so he could see further into the Mist than most mortals, but something as heavily protected as Olympus was something entirely different.

"Yes," I said at last. "I went up there once. When the war was over, all the half-bloods were brought into the city for the celebration of 'victory'." I spat out the last word in disgust.

"Alabaster," Doctor Claymore said softly. He put a hand on my shoulder. I shook it off.

"I'm fine, Doctor," I assured him. "Let us go." We made our way through the city at what seemed like a snail's pace. While we were going at a fairly average pace, the anxiety of what I was to do was finally catching up with me, it seemed.

We left Manhattan via the Queens-Midtown Tunnel. I hadn't been a part of the assault force for this area, but I had two brothers and a sister who had died in the initial struggle with the Hunters of Artemis. I harboured some resentment to them for this fact, but no more than any other half-blood who fought in the name of the gods. History remembers the leaders while the soldiers fade into the murkiness of human memory. In any war, one will associate a faction by its leader rather than their underlings. In World War II, history remembers Hitler, Stalin, Churchill, Eisenhower, and Mussolini, while the general populace of the world think of the countless soldiers in the conflict as just that: soldiers; nameless people who fought and died for a cause. Monuments are erected in their honor, to commemorate their sacrifice, but only their own families carry on the only true memories of their actions. And as Churchill said, "History is written by the victors," the gods won, so their propaganda will be what people will remember. We had lost, so history remembered us as those that went against the higher power, and were crushed underfoot like the rebels we were. Not revolutionaries, but rebels; that is how history would remember us.

So lost in my own thoughts was I, that I didn't notice that we had made it to our destination until Doctor Claymore put his hand on my shoulder. My head snapped up and gazed at the tall pine tree that stood as a lone sentinel atop Half-Blood Hill. I glanced at the Doctor and felt the momentary spark of reconsideration. I quelled this feeling immediately. I had come to far to lose my nerve now.

"It is time, Doctor," I said as I withdrew a blank card from my pocket. Doctor Claymore looked at it distastefully. He always hated being confined within the magical object.

"Good luck, Alabaster," the Doctor said as his body faded into the Mist and his form appeared on the face of the card. I tucked the card away for safekeeping.

I muttered a spell and felt the Mist swirl around me and alter my appearance. When I glanced down at my body, I was a young boy of twelve years old. My appearance was altered so that my siblings wouldn't recognize me and I had numerous protective runes on the insides of my clothes to prevent the gods from finding me.

I drew another mistform card from my pocket and a satyr appeared by my side. The mistform began to walk up the hill and I followed it as I put an expression of awe, wonderment, and just a bit of anxiety on my face.

In truth, I felt only revulsion as I returned to this place. It was a symbol of the gods' oppression. They go out into the world and impregnate mortals with children, which they either abandon or confine to this place to amuse them with quests that they couldn't be bothered to do themselves. Slay a monster, steal an object, fight a war, it made so little difference to them. They would send their children to their deaths for their own amusement; Divine Mafia indeed.

"Hello, who are you exactly?" it was Chiron. I had no ill will towards him. He had been kind to us here at camp, but I would not allow him to ruin my plans. I willed them Mist around him and saw his expression change to one of confusion to panic before settling on his usual expression of the knowing and kind mentor.

"Welcome back, Fen," he said to the satyr as though they were old friends. "I assume your mission was a success." He glanced towards me and smiled. I smiled back weakly, giving the impression of nervousness. It wasn't entirely fraud.

"Hi, I'm Nicholas Claymore," I said nervously.

"Welcome to Camp Half-Blood, Nicholas," Chiron said. "I trust Fen filled you in on this place and who you are." I nodded.

"A little bit," I said. "Is it true that my father is a god?" A brother of mine had said something similar to these words when he arrived here. He had been on _The Princess Andromeda_ when he destroyed it. Chiron chuckled.

"Yes, he is and soon you will meet all of your siblings," he said with a smile on his face. Only by looking closely could one discern that his eyes were a slight milky white. I only saw it because I knew it was there. Fen whispered something in Chiron's ear.

"So Apollo claimed you on the trip here," Chiron mused. "Well, that seems a bit strange. Usually a half-blood isn't claimed until they are within the boundaries of camp." I risked the use of a bit more Mist. Chiron remained still for several seconds before shrugging. "Oh well, there's a first time for everything. Why don't you go introduce yourself to your new siblings?" I nodded and walked towards the golden cabin. Behind me, Chiron walked back to the Big House, Fen was gone.

Will gave me a tour of the camp, but I neither needed, nor wanted one. The only place I found mildly interesting was the cabin to Hecate. I had been banished before it was finished and didn't know what it was like. I saw countless runes inscribed on its walls and columns, but the were only there for appearance and had no magical power. This fact saddened me, I had expected more from my siblings. 'Lou is probably in charge,' I thought as I passed the cabin.

I was following along, tuning out his words until we came to the arena. He told me that he was the sword instructor here and that he would be teaching me if I chose to learn. I pretended to act excited, but on the inside I was going through me plan in my head. I pictured what it would be like once the scales were balanced; once I had finally brought justice to my fallen siblings. Will hurried on with the tour and it was dinnertime by when we were finally done.

My earlier suspicions were proven correct as I watched my younger sister, Lou Ellen escort our siblings to the Dining Pavilion for dinner. I sat at the Apollo table and, after grudgingly sacrificing to the gods, sat down to pick at the food. My attention alternated between two locations: the Hecate table, and the Poseidon table. Its sole occupant had either been out in the lake training the campers in the art of naval combat, or in the sword arena. This was the first time I had seen him in a year, and all of my hatred resurfaced. Part of me wanted to run over there and kill him, pay him back for all he had done. But, the rational part of me remembered my plan. I had to be patient.

'Soon, Perseus Jackson, you will get what you have coming to you, and I will finally get my revenge,' I thought.


	2. Quest

**Chapter Two: Quest**

Though normal is a word rarely associated to demigods; that seemed to be the order of the day since the end of last summer. No large gathering of monsters, no surprise visits from gods, the Titans' defeat seemed to have taken most of our world's dangers with it. I can't say that I missed having to fight for my life every other day, but I had grown so used to it over the past few years that it was strange to think that it was all over.

I spent my days training new half-bloods, of which we kept getting more of day in and day out, alongside the veterans of the war. The camp grew, Olympus was rebuilt under the guidance of my lovely girlfriend, Annabeth Chase, and it had been months since a half-blood had died. Life seemed perfect, and that is what worried me. Call me paranoid, but if something seemed too good to be true, then it probably was. For better or worse, my busy schedule didn't allow me time to dwell on those thoughts. As head swordsmanship instructor, I was in the arena from dawn until dusk teaching the new campers how to use a sword properly.

I wasn't bitter about this job; I knew that I was saving their lives by helping them take care of themselves. But, part of me felt like my life was entering a rut. I used to wake up every day wondering whether it would be my last. It's actually a pretty wise policy to adopt for someone like me, but now I wake up and I can see my day laid out before me. I can actually go through a day without some monster trying to kill me, or some prophecy foretelling the end of the world. It was different to say the least.

I pushed these thoughts out of my mind as I entered the arena. My first group of the new day was comprised of rookie campers and one-year veterans. There was one kid, a son of Nike, named Shawn. He was an odd kid, orphaned from birth and constantly moving from city to city as monsters pursued him. It was a miracle that he made it to camp all by himself. He was entering his third year at camp and, to be completely honest, I thought of him as my apprentice or something. He was young, but he could handle a sword better than most of the other campers. Only a few of us, all veterans of the latest war, could beat him in combat. Even less could do it with any kind of ease. Among them were Annabeth and a couple of her siblings, Clarisse, Thalia when she was here, and me.

Chiron and I had noticed Shawn's talent almost at the same time, and Chiron had appointed me to train him. I agreed because, despite my track record for cheating death, I wouldn't live forever. I guess you could say that I saw Shawn as my replacement. It was a lot to put on him, but he had it in him. I just knew it.

"Alright then, let us begin," I said to the campers before me. "Pair up and use what I've taught you to beat your opponent. Remember, if you have an advantage, don't hesitate to use it." I stood back and watched the campers find their friends and begin to hack and slash at each other with dulled practice swords. They weighed and felt exactly like the weapons they would entrust their lives to one day, but in the mean time, one wouldn't have to worry about seriously maiming the other person. I noticed that one camper didn't have a partner. Nobody was brave enough to fight him.

"Shawn," I called. "You're with me." The son of Nike grinned at me. We both knew I was the only one here who provided any kind of challenge to him. We walked off to an open area of the arena and drew our weapons. I uncapped Riptide; I was skilled enough that I could avoid killing Shawn, and Shawn unsheathed his sword. His sword was pretty standard issue: celestial bronze, double edged, roughly 1 meter in length, leaf-shaped blade, but Shawn made it special. He called it Νίκη, in honor of his mother. We stood facing each other, sizing each other up, for several minutes. Then, Shawn moved. He pretended to jump to the left, but leapt to the right as I turned to anticipate the strike. His sword came up from below and I flipped Riptide into a reversed grip to block the strike. I didn't have to do anything really. The Curse of Achilles made me pretty much invincible, but the campers weren't and I couldn't teach them to stay alive by taking every attack head on, or worse, follow in my footsteps.

Shawn leapt back as I swiped at him with Riptide and then he lunged forward again. I parried his strike and countered. He blocked my next strikes and held his ground. He made a mistake when I brought my sword down in a hammer blow. His attention went up while I knocked his legs out from under him. He landed on the ground, but immediately rolled to his right and jumped back to his feet. Now it was his turn to attack; he tried to overwhelm me with speed by slashing at me from every direction, but his movements were becoming predictable. I was blocking and deflecting his strikes too easily. Finally, he changed. It was hardly noticeable, but I noticed Shawn's shift in pattern. It would have worked if I hadn't been expecting. I had used a similar trick on him during our first dual. Attack in a similar pattern again and again until the opponent becomes so used to it that they're caught completely off guard by any deviation. I reacted accordingly, and I disarmed him using the technique Luke had taught me what seemed like lifetimes ago. I moved my sword point to Shawn's throat and waited. Shawn sighed before raising his hands in surrender.

"You win again, Percy," he said. He was clearly disappointed, but he took his defeat well and didn't complain.

"Don't worry about it," I replied. "You're getting better. It won't be long before things are the other way around and you have your sword to my throat." He smiled at my words.

"Yeah right," he said. "This is only my third year. I'm nowhere near as good as you." I raised an eyebrow.

"This is only my fifth year, Shawn," I replied. "I might have more experience, but you have more pure skill than I had or could have ever hoped to have at your age." He shrugged.

"Whatever, you still won," he said flippantly.

"Are you just going to let me?" I challenged. Shawn smiled and couldn't resist the taking the bait.

"Just you wait, Percy," he said confidently. "I'm going to train harder than ever to beat you now. You can't win forever." His words meant more to me than he realized.

'I hope you do beat me, Shawn,' I thought. 'I won't win forever. I need you to be ready to replace me. Whenever that will be.' I didn't say this to Shawn. I couldn't drop that weight on him. He was only fourteen after all.

"Alright, don't let it go to your head, hotshot," I said. "You haven't won yet." He tried to look offended by my words, but his smile wouldn't be contained.

He helped me train the other campers for the rest of the time before going to his next lesson. The day progressed like every other day, training, lunch, free time, which meant I got to leave the arena and take care of my own lessons, more training, dinner, campfire, and lights out. To make matters worse, this was one of those days where Annabeth was up on Olympus all day and wouldn't be back until tomorrow at the earliest. Though my life didn't completely revolve around her, a large portion of it did. I still had my other friends like Grover, Katie, the Stolls, arguably Clarisse, Rachel, Will, Jake, and several others; but Annabeth was my closest friend aside from being my girlfriend. I was aloud to take Wednesdays and Sundays off to visit her on Olympus, but she was usually so involved in her work that our time together didn't feel real.

That's not to say we were distant from each other, quite the opposite in fact. But, we were both very busy when at camp and we didn't exactly have anywhere in the mortal world to go. We just managed in any way we could. At least she had experienced this before. Camp Half-Blood had been in a state of peace and harmony in the years before the Second Titanomachy, before I had come here. I had never truly known the camp to be peaceful. I recalled my words from last summer.

"Wouldn't be Camp Half-Blood if it was peaceful," I had said. I had been joking at the time, but now I realized that there was at least some truth to the words.

"So, how's your day been?" Grover asked at the campfire.

"You know, same old, same old," I replied dryly. Grover knew better than most my restlessness. Our empathy link held spoke better than words.

"It has been a bit different than the last four years, hasn't it?" he said. "But, I'm enjoying the peace, Percy. I still have plenty to do, what with being on the council and everything."

"Yeah, but you get to be out there," I said. "You go and help save demigods, protect nature, do something. I'm here doing the same thing day after day."

"I don't know, Percy," he said. "Maybe you could ask Chiron for a quest or something." I actually liked that idea, but I didn't think there would be anything-worthwhile doing in the mortal world; or, at least not anything that warranted my interference.

"Maybe," I replied skeptically. "I guess I could ask him."

"It couldn't hurt anything," he pointed out. Our conversation ended there.

The next day, I woke up began the cycle over again. It wasn't until lunch that I was able to talk to Chiron. He was in the Big House reading _The Iliad_. I wasn't sure why, but I didn't give it much attention.

"Chiron," I said. My mentor jumped a little, he looked up and I saw a look of concern and confusion before he masked it behind a smile.

"Percy, how can I help you, my boy?" I hesitated before continuing.

"Well, I was wondering if there were any quests that needed to be done," I said bluntly. Chiron smiled at my request.

"So you've reached that point, eh?" he asked. "The point where a hero who lived in war finds peace."

"I guess you could say that," I responded.

"You know, most heroes experience this at some time or another," he said. "In times of war, they long for peace. But, in times of peace, they long for war. This has been the case for millennia."

"So, is there a quest?" I asked. "I don't want another war, but I feel… I don't know, restrained." Chiron nodded.

"It is your father in you," he said. "The sea is always shifting, always changing. As such, it is in your nature to change as well. In any case, yes, there is something that you could do."

"What is it?" I asked. I felt a small sense of excitement. Even if it were only a menial task, anything would be better than the monotony I went through now.

"There is a half-blood in California," Chiron began. "A satyr has been watching her for a few weeks now, but also detects the presence of a monster in the area."

"So, I'm to go and aid the satyr in rescuing the half-blood?" I clarified. Chiron nodded.

"Yes, but be cautious," he warned. "The satyr reports that the scent of the monster is strong."

"Don't worry, Chiron," I said confidently. "I'm sure I can handle it." Chiron smiled at my confidence.

"I'm sure you can, my boy," he said. "But, many of my former have said the same, and I have had similar thoughts before." His words were clear. Everything was at the mercy of the Fates. If they will it to be, so it would.

"When do I leave?" I asked.

"Tomorrow," Chiron replied. "I suggest you prepare for the journey. I'll have Clarisse fill for you today." I nodded my thanks and returned to my cabin to prepare for the westward journey.

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A/N the story idea for this fic belongs to Anonemuss14. Please thank her for writing such an excellent story.


	3. Intervention

**Chapter Three: Intervention**

I set out from camp at around 8 o'clock the next morning. Argus drove me to the bus station in Manhattan, but that was the farthest he was permitted to go. He nodded to me, as if to wish me luck, and I nodded back. I only had to wait a few minutes for the bus to arrive, and when it did I claimed a seat in the back. My past quests had taught me to keep everything in my line of sight, especially on vehicles. I reached into my pocket and felt Riptide in its pen form; holding the object comforted me for some reason. I went over the list of supplies I had brought in my head: Riptide, Drachmas, mortal cash, nectar, ambrosia, and three days worth of ham sandwiches. I was as ready as I'd ever be.

I was entering the fourth hour of the unimaginably dull and uncomfortable bus ride when I decided, somewhat against my better judgment, to sleep to pass the time. Though it was difficult, I managed to get into a semi-comfortable position in the seat of the bus. I fell asleep pretty quickly after that.

Unfortunately, I had a dream. In the dream, I was standing in a house. It was sparsely furnished with the primary color being gray and few personal items, such as: pictures, books, or even electronics, could be seen. I looked out the window and saw the Bay Area of San Francisco. I didn't know what to do, so I just stood there for several minutes. My patience was running out and I was about to start searching around when someone walked in the front door. It was a man who looked to be in his mid-thirties with dark hair and light blue eyes. He walked in with a woman who looked to be a bit younger than him with light brown hair and green eyes. They were talking cheerfully about their day.

"That place was really nice," the man said. "We need to thank Warren for recommending it."

"I'll let him know the next time I see him," the woman replied. "Maybe we should—"

The woman ceased talking abruptly as a young girl entered the room. She was young, maybe seven or eight. She had long black hair and pale skin, but the most noticeable feature about her was her silvery eyes. Despite her age, the look she gave the man and woman was analyzing and cold.

"Where have you been?" she asked bluntly. The couple looked nervous, like teenagers that were caught on a secret date. Suffice to say, the situation seemed somewhat reversed.

"Um…hi, Ari," the man said tentatively. "How was your day?" The girl, Ari, narrowed her eyes at him.

"Why is she here?" she asked, indicating the woman.

"Well, we've talked about this," the man said. "Maria is going to be your new mom." Ari's eyes darkened.

"I don't want a new mom," she said in an icily calm voice. "I already have a mom."

"But, Ari, your mom left us," the man said with his composure quickly degrading. "Wouldn't you like to have a real mother?" Ari's calm expression broke into anger and her eyes became black.

"I. Don't. Want. A. New. Mom!" She said furiously and took a step towards the adults. I looked out the window and saw a massive storm forming. The water in the bay was no longer calm, but like what one would only see during a hurricane. Clouds had gathered and cast a shadow on the area with the wind howling through the streets ferociously. I could feel small tremors running through the ground. I couldn't believe what I was seeing.

"Ari, please stop," the man pleaded. Surprisingly, she did. Ari's eyes returned to their previous state and everything outside returned to normal. Without a word, Ari turned and left the room. I heard her walk up some stairs and close a door.

"This can't keep happening, Jonathon," Maria said.

"I'm sorry, but what am I supposed to do about it?" Jonathon asked.

"I don't know, but this isn't normal," she said. "I love you, but I can't live with your daughter."

"I'll… I'll do something," Jonathon said. "I could send her to a boarding school, or something." Maria looked happier.

"Thank you."

The dream ended and I woke up on the bus.

The next day was a lot like the first. I managed to skip from bus to bus as I neared San Francisco. Somehow, I reached the city without incident early on the third day. My first job was to locate the satyr in charge of protecting her. Chiron had said his name Rowan, and that he should be expecting me. I didn't know if I should try searching for him, but I didn't want to. San Francisco is a big city.

"You're Percy?" a voice behind me asked. I turned to see a man with green eyes, a brown goatee, and baggy pants standing behind me. He looked tired and scared.

"Yes, and you're Rowan?" I asked. Rowan nodded.

"I take you're here about Ari?" his question surprised me. It was obvious that the girl in my dream was a half-blood of some kind, but I didn't think I'd be sent to retrieve her. Then again, it made sense because of her power.

"A little girl?" I asked. "With dark hair, pale skin, and silver eyes?" Rowan was nodding slowly with every word.

"Did Chiron tell you anything about her?" he asked. I shook my head.

"No, I actually had an odd dream about her," I informed him. He looked troubled at this recent development.

"What happened?" he asked. I filled him in on the details.

"You need to take her," he said gravely. "I can't… I can't take much more of this."

"More of what?" His words were akin to what Maria had said in my dream.

"Protecting her," he said. "It's a full time job. Her scent is unnaturally strong, so monsters swarm her all the time. I have to take time away from protecting other half-bloods. Not to mention that she's, shall we say, a little bit off."

"What does that mean?" I asked. "How is she 'off'?"

"For one, I can't tell who her godly parent is," Rowan explained. "If her not for the fact that her father was mortal, I'd say that she was a daughter of Zeus or Poseidon. None of the minor gods could be powerful enough to be her parent, but none of the female Olympians fit either. Artemis, Hera, and Hestia are out, and it couldn't be Demeter or Aphrodite."

"So that leaves Athena," I said. Rowan was shaking his head.

"But that doesn't make sense either," he said, his voice was starting to become hysterical. "Athena doesn't possess the amount of power Ari has. The best I can come up with is that Athena, being Zeus' daughter, has the tiniest amount of his power and that it somehow transferred over to Ari. It doesn't make sense, but everything else is even crazier."

"Okay, calm down," I said. "Let's start from the beginning. Is their anything about her that I should know about?" Rowan took several deep breaths before speaking again.

"Her full name is Arianna Veil. She's seven years old and lives with her dad, Jonathon Veil," he said. "For most of her life, it was just her and her dad, but recently this new woman, Maria, has started going out with her dad. Ari hasn't taken too kindly to it and things have gotten… bad around here."

"She caused a storm the other day," I said.

"Yeah, and that was a weak one," Rowan said. "You have no idea…"

"Can you take me to her?" I asked. Rowan nodded and walked off into the city.

Half an hour later, we stood before the building that could only be Ari's house. The outside was a lot like the inside, barren and gray.

"I need to go," Rowan said. "There are a lot of half-bloods that need protection in the city. I trust you can get her to camp?"

"Yeah, I'll handle it," I said. 'Thanks for your help, Rowan."

"Don't thank me, Percy," he said. "Never before have I ever considered abandoning a half-blood, but this girl… good luck."

His words didn't inspire confidence, but it was too late to back out. I walked up to the front door and knocked twice. Almost immediately, the door swung open and Maria looked out.

"Hello?" she asked. "Who are you?"

"My name is Percy Jackson," I said. "May I come in?" she didn't look eager to let a stranger into her home, but she opened the door a little bit wider and stepped back.

"How can I help you?" she asked. Her tone made it seem more forced than willing.

"Actually, I might be able to help you," I said, she looked confused. "I understand that there is a girl here named Ari."

"What about her?" Maria now looked somewhere between angry and scared.

"She's special, but she's also in danger here," I said. "I can take her somewhere safer." She looked skeptical.

"Who are you, Professor X?" she asked. "Listen, Ari is… different, and as much as I would like it for her to leave, we need to talk to with Jonathon before anything is decided."

"That's fine," I said. "Is he here?" She nodded.

"I'll get him, please take a seat," she walked into another room and I heard her say something. The next moment, Jonathon walked into the room. He sat down in a chair across from me.

"Who are you?" he asked. No greeting, no formalities, just straight to the point.

"I'm Percy Jackson," I said for the second time. "I'm from Camp Half-Blood." Jonathon nodded like he understood.

"She said you'd come," he said. "She said that someone from 'camp' would come for Ari someday."

"Ari's mother?" I asked. "Who was she? What was her name?"

"I don't know," Jonathon said. "She never gave me her name. But, what is special about Ari? Why are you taking her?"

"You might not believe me," I warned him, but I did explain everything to him. I told him that Ari's mom was a goddess, gave him details about camp, and reassured him of Ari's safety. Jonathon seemed surprised at the information, but also very relieved.

"When will you be leaving?" he asked.

"As soon as possible," I said. "Anywhere outside of camp is dangerous enough, but California is particularly so."

"I'll go get her," he said. He walked out of the room and up the stairs. I was surprised when he returned alone.

"She wants to talk to you alone," he said. This seemed strange to me, but I followed him up the stairs to Ari's room. Though I couldn't explain why, a sense of unease swept through me as I entered the room.

The room was small, with just enough room for the small bed and dresser that were the only furniture in it. But, there were also pictures on the walls. I couldn't make out any details in the dim light, but the colors red and orange were everywhere. Finally, I turned to the little girl I had been sent to retrieve. She had her back to me and was staring at one of the pictures.

"Hello, Ari," I began. "My name is—"

"Perseus Jackson," she interrupted, I froze when she said my full name. "I know who you are."

"Um, how do you know me?" I asked.

"From my dreams," she said enigmatically. "I've seen you so many times."

"Okay," I said awkwardly. "So, you know why I'm here too?"

"Yes," she said. "You're going to take me away. You're going to take me to the camp. I've seen the camp in my dreams too. So many times…"

I didn't really know how to respond at first. I began to wonder if there was more about this girl that was "off" besides her parentage.

"I won't take you there if you don't want to go," I said. "You can—"

"Your teacher is here," she said all of a sudden.

"What?" I asked, failing to comprehend her words.

"Your teacher is here," she repeated. "She's here for me."

I finally grasped the meaning of her words as a crash sounded from down stairs.

"Where is she!" an all to familiar voice screeched from downstairs. "Where is the girl!"

I bolted out the door and down the stairs to see the Furies standing over the Jonathon. Maria was lying beside the front door; at least, most of her was.

"Alecto, let him go!" I yelled at my ex-algebra teacher. "He's just a mortal."

"Perseus?" she asked. "What are you doing here? Leave now or _you_ shall suffer." I uncapped Riptide.

"Step away from the mortal or you shall suffer," I responded.

"You know not what you defend, boy," she said before ripping apart Jonathon's throat with her talons. I watched the body fall to the ground as if in slow motion before launching myself at the closest Fury. It exploded into golden dust as Riptide sank into her up to the hilt. The second Fury tried to use her whip, but couldn't in the small space of the room. I felt a tug in my gut as the plumbing of the building exploded and crashed into her with such force that she joined her sister in Tartarus. Now all that was left was Alecto.

"Last chance," I warned. "You can run back to Hades with your tail between you legs, or I can send you back myself." Alecto trembled with rage, but she didn't attack.

"You know not what you defend," she repeated. Then she flew at me. I raised Riptide, but I wasn't fast enough and Alecto crashed into me. I dropped Riptide and slammed against the back wall. I could vaguely feel Alecto's claws trying to rip me to pieces, but the were ineffective against the Curse of the Styx. I blindly struck out with my right leg and Alecto fell off of me. I reached into my pocket and felt Riptide. I quickly uncapped it and brought it down on Alecto's neck. It never reached its target. The bronze blade of a Greek sword had stopped my attack from landing. I looked up and froze with surprise.

"Achilles?" I asked. The last time I had seen the ancient warrior was at the River Styx with Nico. Now he was here, alive and prepared for a fight.

"I'm sorry, Perseus," he said with true regret in his voice. "But, I cannot allow you to succeed in your quest." He grabbed my shirt roughly and tossed me out the broken door into the street.

"Get the girl," I heard him say to Alecto. "I'll meet you back at Hades' Palace."

I got to my feet and saw Achilles before in a fighting stance.

"Ready yourself, hero," he said. "My last true opponent was Hector. Let us see how you compare to him."

"Why are you doing this?" I asked. "I'm just trying to protect a half-blood."

"Sometimes, you're better off not knowing the truth," he said. "Now, fight me!" He lunged at me and I raised Riptide to meet his sword.

* * *

I couldn't believe my luck. That fool had gone on a quest the day after I arrived at camp. This would make my job much easier. The only problem would be the daughter of Athena. Her devotion to him was impressive, to say the least. I almost felt bad about what I was going to do. Almost, but he deserved everything that was coming to him. Soon, my revenge would be complete, and that insufferable son of Poseidon would know my pain; the pain of abandonment and betrayal. Soon.

* * *

A/N the story idea for this fic belongs to Anonemuss14. Please thank her for writing such an excellent story.


	4. Betrayal

**Chapter Four: Betrayal**

The two bronze swords met with a piercing _CLANG_. Achilles wasted no time in attacking again. I dodged to the right, but Achilles altered his attack and I had to block again.

I backed up and tried to catch my breath, but Achilles didn't let up. He was keeping me on the defensive while Alecto attacked Ari. I was holding my own for now, but I could feel my arms getting tired under Achilles rain of blows.

At the same time, his attacks were getting slower, more erratic. He was growing tired as well. In a desperate effort to beat him, I threw Riptide into the air. Achilles eyes followed the sword's flight before he realized his mistake. I balled my right hand into a fist and swung with all of the strength I had. It connected with Achilles' cheekbone and the ancient warrior stumbled back in surprise. He swung horizontally, but I ducked under the cut and caught Riptide as it fell again. I slammed the flat of my sword against Achilles' hand and he dropped his sword. I placed Riptide's point against his throat. Achilles stared at it for a moment before smiling at me.

"Well, you are a more worthy opponent that Hector, but you fight like a mortal," he said. He grabbed Riptide in his hand and tried rip it from my grasp. I pushed my sword forward in desperation, but it couldn't penetrate his skin.

"We are greater than mortals, Perseus," Achilles said. "We are lions among sheep; gods among mortal warriors. We fight and kill until the cold embrace of Thanatos takes us. Because you do not understand that, you can never defeat me." He ripped Riptide from me and threw it aside. "Give up this fight, Perseus."

"I can't allow you to take Ari to Hades," I responded with fake confidence. "You'll have to kill me before I let you." Achilles looked disappointed with my answer.

"She's only one half-blood," he said coldly. "Our kind die everyday. What is so special about her?"

"I could ask you the same thing," I said. "Why is she so important that Hades send the Furies and you to kill her?" Achilles scowled at me.

"I told you," he said slowly. "It's better if you do not know the truth."

I felt Riptide return to my pocket, but it wouldn't help me yet. I had to get to his heel.

"Alecto is probably done by now," Achilles said. "My job will be complete."

"What's in it for you?" I asked in an attempt to buy time. "What did Hades promise you in exchange for Ari?"

"That's is not your concern," Achilles said. "Now, if you'll excuse me." Achilles turned and walked back up to the house. As his back was turned, I uncapped Riptide and stabbed it into his heel. Achilles cried out in pain and stumbled, but he didn't die. He turned and glared at me.

"That was a foul trick, Perseus," he said. "To attack me with my back turned, that is the coward's way."

"Why aren't you dead?" I asked.

"Foolish boy, I'm already counted amongst the fallen," he said. "Nothing you do will affect me."

Achilles stepped towards me and a Stygian Iron spear materialized in his hands. I didn't know how well the Curse of the Styx would fare against Stygian Iron, but I was about to find out. He leveled his spear at my chest and would have skewered me, had the house not blown up.

A flash of lightning and crash of thunder were all I saw and heard before the second floor of Ari's house exploded. I looked up at the ruin to see Ari floating in the air above the house. Dark clouds had gathered and swirled above her, the wind whipped wildly around us, and lightning flashed across the sky. Ari's silver eyes glowed with power as she slowly descended to our level. Achilles stared at her in awe and fear before charging at her with his spear. Ari sidestepped his attack and placed her small hand against his chest. Achilles was blown back as a powerful blast of electricity emitted from Ari's palm. It was similar to the shocks Thalia would give when she got angry, but this was much stronger. Achilles flew back and slammed into another house across the street. He didn't get back up.

For a moment, I just stared at Ari and the display of power she just demonstrated. She turned and looked at me with her piercing eyes. I felt exposed under her gaze, as if my entire life was lain out before her. Then, her eyes fluttered and the spell was broken. I jumped forward to catch her as she lost consciousness. The storm that raged so violently around us began to disappear until no traces of it remained. I looked at the broken husk of Ari's home and felt guilt well up inside me at the thought of her father and Maria; my failure to protect them.

With Ari in my arms, I turned and walked away from that place.

* * *

I didn't want to risk flying back to New York, but traveling across the whole of America with a seven-year old while vicious monsters hunted us probably wasn't the best idea either. In the end, I chose land travel. Hades had want Ari dead, so I didn't know if I could trust Zeus yet. Ari might have been Zeus' daughter, and that could be why Hades had sent the Furies after us, but that didn't seem right. Rowan had said that her dad was the mortal parent, so Zeus couldn't possibly be her parent. But, then who could it be?

"You're taking me to camp?" Ari asked. She had woken up an hour ago and had been walking beside me as we left the city of San Francisco. She had been silent until now.

"Yeah, I am," I responded. "I think you'll like it there. We have weapon training, Pegasus riding, campfires, and you'll make lots of new friends."

"Friends," she repeated numbly. "I've seen camp in my dreams. I've seen you and your friends in them too."

"What have you seen?" I asked. I hadn't had time to ask her back at her house.

"It was like a TV show I would watch when I fell asleep," she said. "I saw you when you were twelve, when had to find the lightning bolt. I saw you fighting that lion creature at the arch. I saw you fight that man at the beach." I felt slightly uneasy during her recounting of my first quest.

"Is that all?" I asked.

"No," she said. "I saw you and that blonde girl fighting the giant with one eye. I saw you and another girl fighting a giant man on a mountain. I saw you fighting a dragon lady in a forest with the blonde girl. I saw you fighting the man with golden eyes."

Every sentence furthered my sense of unease about this girl. She was talking about each of my quests that led up to the war with the Titans last summer. I didn't know how much she understood, but I couldn't imagine what all of this stuff had done to her.

"What does it all mean?" she asked. "I've been having the dreams for years, but I can only remember pieces of them. Please, tell me what they mean."

I didn't know where to begin, so I chose the direct approach. "Well, your mom is a goddess." Ari didn't look very surprised, but I didn't expect her to be after the day's events. She looked confused, but also her eyes shone with something that, while not real happiness, border-lined on excitement.

"I don't remember her," she said sadly. " Do you know who she is?"

"No, I don't," I responded sympathetically. "But, she'll probably claim you when we get to camp. The gods used to ignore us, but they've been getting better this year."

"She speaks to me sometimes," Ari said randomly.

"Who, your mom?" I asked. Ari nodded.

"She told me that you would come," she said. "She would show me things too. I would draw pictures of them." I remembered the pictures she'd had in her room.

"What things did she show you?" I asked. Ari opened her mouth to speak, but closed it again and looked confused.

"I… I don't remember," she said. "I used to look at them for hours, but I can't remember what they looked like now. It's so strange."

That about summed up my day. But, I couldn't shake the uneasiness that was inside me. We walked in silence for the rest of the day. The next day I decided to speed things up and boarded an east bound train. It stopped twice, in St. Louis and Boston before finally returning to New York City at around 7 o'clock. I had Iris-messaged camp the other day to inform them of my arrival and Argus was to be waiting for us at the bus station. I was surprised when he wasn't.

I waited ten minutes before hailing a taxi.

"Where to, mate?" the cabbie said in with a slight British accent. I gave him the address and got the expected response.

"You realize that there's nothing out there, right?" he asked.

"I know, but we can get to our final destination from there," I said. The cabbie looked skeptical before turning back to the wheel.

"I'll take your word for it then," he replied.

The drive was spent in silence. Ari hadn't said a word since our initial trek from San Francisco. I was somewhat relieved when the taxi stopped at the foot of Half-Blood Hill.

"Thanks for the ride," I said and handed him the due amount. He counted the money, gave me one last odd look, and then sped away back to the city.

"This is Half-Blood Hill," I said to Ari. "That's Thalia's tree and it's what protects us from the monsters."

"I saw it in my dreams," Ari said. "I saw a girl come out of it when you put the golden blanket on it."

"That was Thalia," I said. "She a Hunter of Artemis right now, but she visits on occasion. She's a great friend and I think you'll like her."

"A Hunter of Artemis," Ari repeated. "Like that other girl, the one in the stars."

I looked up at the constellation she spoke of, the Huntress. It burned as bright and true as the day it had been put in the sky. I smiled sadly as I remembered those days, when every day was a battle that I only won through the aid of my friends and allies.

"That was Zoë," I said. "She was one of the bravest people I have ever met. She deserves her place up there."

"Can we go to the camp now?" she asked.

"Yeah, come on," I said. "I'll show you around."

We walked up the hill and past the sleeping form of Peleus. Ari looked at him curiously, but otherwise didn't react. Most of the campers would be at the campfire by now, so I headed in that direction. Sure enough, the campers were sitting around the enchanted fire while the Apollo Cabin led the sing-along. I spotted Annabeth sitting among her siblings and felt happy that she was here. I was about to make my presence known when one of the other campers did it for me.

"Hey, who's that guy?" he asked. I found this question odd, but didn't worry about. He must be new. However, when many of the campers, even the older ones, began voicing similar statements and looking at me in confusion, I began to get a little worried. Finally, Annabeth stepped forward. I'm not sure what I expected, but I didn't get it.

"Hi, I'm Annabeth Chase," she said politely. "Who are you?" I stared blankly at her, barely understanding the words she had just spoken.

"Annabeth, it's me, Percy," I said. Annabeth looked confused.

"Have we met?" she asked.

"Stop messing around," I said. "You know me. I've been here for five years."

"Is that so?" Clarisse asked as she stood up. "Well, I think I would've remembered you."

"Clarisse, what are you talking about?" I asked in growing desperation. "You do know me. You've tried to kill me several times." She raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, like that narrows down the list," she joked, but her distrust was evident on her face.

"Listen, Percy, right?" Annabeth said. "I'm sure that I've never seen you before. So, could you please explain what you're doing here."

"Annabeth, please," I said as my world crashed around me. "You know me, you all know me. Look at these and tell me you don't." I took my bead necklace off of my neck and displayed it for everyone to see. Everyone looked confused at this evidence.

"It's probably a trick," someone said from the back. "Yeah, how do we know if we can trust this guy?" That was all it took. Similar statements were spreading throughout the congregated campers and they were staring at me with open distrust, even some of my oldest friends.

"I don't know who you are, but you'd better start explaining," Annabeth said. The glare she was giving me tore my heart to pieces.

"Annabeth…" I reached out to put a hand on her shoulder, but she jumped and struck out with her knife. It would have cut my hand to ribbons if not for my invulnerability. As it was, her strike bounced off and jarred her arm. Annabeth cried out in more surprise than pain, but that sent things even further into chaos. In an instant, dozens of weapons were leveled at me, with Clarisse's spear being inches from my face.

"That's it," she growled. "I'm giving you one chance to turn around and leave before I send you straight to Hades." I stared at her face and saw nothing but loathing. Annabeth was looking at me in confusion, but there was also anger and distrust. In every face there were varying degrees of hate, fear, and distrust. Finally, I looked at Chiron. He looked at me blankly as if he wasn't sure what to do. Ari was watching this whole scene play out with avid curiosity on her face. She didn't seem to care what was happening, but instead just wanted to see what the end result was.

"Well, are you leaving or not?" a voice asked. It was Shawn. That was the final push. With my world crashing around me, I turned and walked away from the campers, away from my friends. I walked back to Half-Blood Hill, and turned to look at my home one last time. Clarisse and a few others had followed me to ensure that I left.

"If I ever see you here again," she threatened. "I won't be so hospitable." Somehow, that made this entire situation that much worse.

Almost in a trance, I walked away from Camp Half-Blood. I wouldn't be back.

* * *

**Alabaster POV**

All of the pieces were falling into place. The campers' minds had been broken easily, especially the newer ones. The Athena girl had proved more difficult to manipulate than anticipated, but in the end she joined her friends as pawns in my game of revenge. All that was left to do was tie up the loose ends.

"Hello Mrs. Blofis," I said politely. "I'm here to talk to you about your son." I will the mist into her mind.

"Son?" she asked. "What son?"

"Percy Jackson," I said. "Surely you remember him." She looked deeply troubled by my words.

"I'm sorry, but I don't have a son," she replied. "You must have the wrong people." I looked into her eyes and saw absolute sincerity.

"Yes, that must be it," I said. "I'm sorry to take up your time like this, Mrs. Blofis. Have a nice day." I walked away down the hall leaving a bewildered Sally Jackson in my wake. All of the pieces were coming together.

* * *

A/N the story idea for this fic belongs to Anonemuss14. Please thank her for writing such an excellent story.


	5. Chimera

**Chapter Five: Chimera**

What are you supposed to do when everything you knew, your very home was taken away from you by the people you had loved and trusted for years? I didn't have an answer to that.

The events of last night were swirling around in my head, and they made absolutely no sense no matter how I looked at it. The only I could think to do was go to the only place left to go: my parents' apartment.

Though I loved my parents more than anything, I had come to consider camp as my true home over the last year. I stayed with my parents during school, but I was at camp at every given opportunity: weekends, holidays, anytime not taken up as a student was spent as a teacher for young half-bloods. I guess I was following in Chiron's footprints, or would that be hoofprints? Thinking about my old mentor reminded me of his reaction to my eviction. He had been confused, but about what? None of it added up. Maybe my mom could help me figure this out. I had arrived at her and Paul's apartment. I knocked twice.

It was a few minutes before I heard footprints on the other side of the door. The door opened to reveal my mom standing there in a nightgown and rubbing the sleep from her eyes. I felt a deep sense of happiness as I saw her there. Her next words crushed that happiness with utter brutality.

"Hello, how may I help you?" she asked and looked at me like I was a stranger waking her up in the middle of the night, that is to say, annoyed. I stared at her in disbelief for what might have been seconds or millennia before speaking.

"Mom, it's me, Percy," I said as tears threatened my eyes. She narrowed her eyes at me.

"Are you with that other kid?" she asked. "I already told him that I don't have a son. Now, could you please leave? It's one o'clock in the morning." She closed the door and left me there in the hallway. That is when the tears came. I didn't hold them back as everything became painfully real. My friends didn't know who I was, they threatened to kill me if I tried to go back, and now my mother thought I was a stranger. I didn't know how things could get worse.

I considered going to see my father, but quickly dismissed the idea. He wouldn't be at Olympus until the next council meet for the Winter Solstice, and I had no idea how to get to Atlantis. The one time I had been there during the Titan War hadn't been very helpful in gaining a location. Unless he came to me, meeting him was nearly impossible. I could Iris-message him, but something about doing so felt wrong. What if he didn't know me either? That would push over the edge for sure. I had nowhere to go, no definite allies, and no goals. So I wandered.

For the next week, I made my away around the country. From city to city I traveled in a vaguely westward direction. Monsters would attack me occasionally, but the encounters were few and far between. Some of them even ran away from me when they saw me coming. I didn't know whether this was a good thing or not. Nothing in the mortal world scared me anymore, and few things in the world of the gods could threaten me. I didn't want to die, but I didn't want to live either. My friends 'betrayal' was still fresh in my mind. Despite the hurt they had caused me, I wasn't angry; hurt, yes, confused, definitely, angry and wanting revenge, not so much.

"How did this happen?" I asked myself. I had returned to St Louis and, on a whim, I traveled to the top of the famous Arch like I had done what seemed like lifetimes ago.

"Well, well, well, what have here, sonny?" a voiced hissed behind me. My blood ran cold at the voice. I found it to be an impossible coincidence that my second encounter with her would be at the same place and under the same circumstance as the first. I turned and saw Echidna standing at the elevators with her son, the Chimera, beside her. This time, the Chimera was in its true form. It was tall enough to touch the ceiling, had the head of a lion, body of a goat, viper for a tail, and enough bloodlust in its eyes that it put Alecto to shame.

"Echidna," I said with forced indifference.

"I'm sorry that we weren't able to finish our last… game," she said with an evil smile on her face. "Don't worry, we'll destroy you this time." I uncapped Riptide and held it in front of me.

"Is that so?" I asked. "I'd like to see you try." I was bluffing. I had almost no hope of beating the Chimera in a one on one fight. But, if this were to be the end, I would die fighting. Echidna's smile widened at my challenge.

"You have grown powerful over the years, Perseus," she hissed. "It is only right that my son show you the true extent of his power."

"What do you—" I began to say before the Chimera began to grow. It grew larger and larger until the ceiling exploded from its size and the floor began to crack under its weight. Two more heads began to grow on either side of its lion head, a goat on the left, and a dragon on the right. Its front legs transformed into lion legs with razor sharp claws to go with them. I stared in awe and fear at the massive beast. It in turn glared down at me before roaring into the sky and unleashing a pillar of flame from its mouth.

"Have fun, Perseus," Echidna said before she disappeared in a burst of fire. I glanced back at the Chimera as it raised its massive paw and brought it down on me. I jumped to the side as the floor of the Arch gave way under the Chimera's blow. Cracks spread across the floor and I was amazed that it hadn't collapsed yet.

I didn't have much time to ponder this, because I had to dodge again as three blasts of fiery death issued from the mouths of the Chimera. By now the Arch was being held up by an unknown miracle. The Chimera took a step forward and the floor cracked even more. I was considering jumping like I did last time when an idea came to me. I plunged Riptide hilt-deep into the broken floor and focused my willpower. I felt a familiar tug in my gut and the earth began to shake. The already weakened Arch began to give way under the damage from both above and below. The Chimera glanced at the widening cracks at its feet before the Arch's floor final broke. The massive creature disappeared from view as it plummeted towards the earth below.

I let out a sigh of relief as the Chimera's roar faded away. The elevator was pretty useless, so I was about to leave the old fashioned way when the Arch shook again. I looked through the hole in the floor to see the Chimera… flying. Two massive dragon wings extended from its back and the Chimera was circling what remained of the Arch as it unleashed wave after wave of fire and destruction.

I had maybe a few seconds before the Arch collapsed entirely. I steeled my nerves, and jumped. I felt the sensation of being weightless as I free fell towards the Mississippi River below. I closed my eyes just before impact and felt the water rise up to catch me. Now I had to choose; on one hand, I could probably escape from the Chimera right now and hide somewhere where it couldn't find me, or I could go back and stop it from destroying the city of St. Louis and everyone in it.

I knew that I couldn't have made any other decision as I rose to the surface. I looked around and quickly spotted the Chimera sitting atop a skyscraper and spewing out fire in all directions. I focused again and felt a pull in my gut. A ball of water began to form in front of me and grow in size until it was about the size of a bowling ball. This next part was trickier. I concentrated on the sphere and willed it to become colder. Steadily, the water solidified into a sphere of ice. Fueled by my pain and righteous anger at the screams of innocent people that filled the air, I launched the sphere like a bullet straight for the Chimera.

It punched a hole straight through its dragonhead and the other two roared in pain and fury. The Chimera fell from its perch and crashed into the ground with a resounding BOOM! I rushed to the place where it fell to see what had happened. I saw a small crater in the middle of the freeway with the Chimera lying at its center. Cautiously, I stepped forward slowly until I was right next to it. It wasn't breathing, but just to be sure I raised Riptide over my head to finish it. That is when the Chimera's eye flew open. Its lion claws came at me so fast I didn't see them until the buried themselves in my side. I was thrown back into the side of a building and the air was painfully driven out of me. I fell to the ground and waited for the pain to ease a little bit. Luckily, the Chimera didn't seem to be in a hurry to rise either. Its dragonhead hung limply from its shoulder and dripped green blood and the massive creature slowly stood up and turned to me. I was able to get to my knees before the pain got the better of me. I dared a glance at my side, but immediately wished I hadn't.

Three long gashes were cut into my side and were pouring out blood in torrents. I couldn't understand how the Chimera had penetrated the Curse of the Styx, but it had and I could almost hear the voice of Thanatos beckoning me to the Underworld. I was wrenched from these thoughts as the Chimera breathed more flames at me. I leapt to the side and felt the wound in my side rip further from the effort. I had to end this quickly.

I dashed, as much as I could, towards the Chimera and avoided another barrage of flames. I rolled underneath its feet and plunged Riptide into its belly. The Chimera roared in pain and tried to lie down on me. I jumped out from under it and leapt onto its back while it was down. Almost instantly, I felt unbearable pain explode in my shoulder and saw the head of the Chimera's viper tail. I jumped away and cut the head off with Riptide, but the damage was done. I grabbed onto the Chimera's thick fur as it tried to toss me off. The effort was destroying my shoulder and the edges of my vision began to go black. I shook it off and used what willpower I had left to form a tiny sliver if ice in my hand. Similar to the sphere earlier, I launched the ice dagger at the goat head of the Chimera and it impaled itself in the creature's brain. The goat head gave one last feeble bleat before going limp. All that was left was the lion head. By now, the Chimera was doing everything it could to get me off its back. It ran into buildings, jumped up and down, everything, but I held fast and clawed my way to its final head.

It took what seemed like an eternity, but I finally reached its head. With one hand still holding on as tightly as possible to the hair of its bloody mane, I raised Riptide for the final blow. It almost worked, but the Chimera saw the bronze blade above its head and it gave one sharp jerk forward.

I flew forward off of its head at hit the ground in front of it. I opened my eyes to see the Chimera snarling over me. I watched helplessly as it raised its massive paw and slam it down on me. I tried to cry out in pain, but all oxygen was driven from my body from the force of the blow. I could fell the life being crushed out of me. But, I wasn't going to give up. I don't know how I found the strength, but I willed myself to ignore the pain, ignore the horrible death I was moments away from experiencing, and focus on the water; the water in the air. I imagined myself floating in it, becoming part of it. Then, the pain disappeared, if only for a moment, then I was in the air above the Chimera. It was looking down in confusion at where I just was; it never saw me coming until it was too late.

I fell down towards the Chimera and drove Riptide into the Chimera's thick skull up to the hilt. The Chimera threw its head back and gave a mighty roar full of pain and anger as its body began to dissolve. It happened slowly; first the two heads disappeared into a flurry of golden dust, then its body from the tail to its throats. Finally, its lion head became nothing more than so much golden dust upon the ground.

As for me, I was lying on my back as the Chimera disappeared. I watched it die and felt an odd satisfaction at having defeated such a mighty beast. But, I could feel death coming. My vision began to darken and I unconsciousness threatened to overtake me. I was about to fade away entirely when someone appeared. I couldn't make out any details through the darkness of my vision, but I could see his glowing golden eyes as they looked down at my broken body. He held out a hand to me.

"Come with me," he said in a gentle voice. "I can save you and give you answers to your questions, but I will not force you. If you choose, you may go to the realm of Hades, but you will never know the truth. What say you, Perseus?"

I stared at his hand and tried to make sense of his words. Did I want to know the truth? Achilles' words came back to me. I made my choice. Though I tried, I didn't have the strength to reach up to grab his hand. Fortunately, he went the rest of the way and grabbed mine.

"You've made the right choice, Perseus," he said. "Come, we have much to do." Then the world faded to black.

* * *

A/N the story idea for this fic belongs to Anonemuss14. Please thank her for writing such an excellent story.


	6. Hero

**Chapter Six: Hero**

**Athena POV**

Reconstruction on Olympus was coming along nicely. Well, the actual construction took almost no time or effort since the work force was comprised of Cyclops. Simple and brutish as they are, they have their points of usefulness. However, the largest contributing factor was my daughter, Annabeth. I knew that I had made the right decision in appointing her, but even I was astounded by the progress made and the designs themselves. I hadn't been this proud of one of my children since Daedalus. Recently, she'd been putting even more time and effort into her work, to the point that she was rarely at camp. Pat of me wondered whether that boy, Perseus, was to blame. Seeing no harm in inquiring, I approached my daughter at her workstation in my palace.

"Good morning, Annabeth," I greeted. She turned and gave me a slight bow, but followed with a hug.

"Good morning, mother," she replied cheerfully. "How are you?" Aside from looking a little tired, nothing seemed wrong with her.

"Oh, I'm fine," I said flippantly. "What about you, my daughter? How are you doing?"

"I'm fine, construction is going well, I think," she said. "Everything should be completed in a few months. The Cyclops have been extremely helpful." This was all well and good, but not what I wanted to know.

"You haven't been to camp in a while," I said. Annabeth's expression changed immediately at the mention of her home.

"Yeah, something happened there recently," she mumbled. She rubbed her right shoulder like it hurt.

"Did it have to do with that boy, Perseus?" I asked. Annabeth's gaze snapped to me and she looked surprised.

"Do you know who he is?" she asked. I was caught off guard by her question.

"What does that mean?" I asked. "Of course I know him. Do you not know him?"

"Well, he showed up at camp about a week ago during the campfire," she explained. "I introduced myself to him, but he… he acted like he knew me. He said that he was a camper and showed us his necklace, but he couldn't have been. Things escalated pretty quickly and I guess I got a little jumpy. He put his hand on my shoulder and I lashed out with my knife."

"It didn't work, though," I surmised. "It bounced right off of his skin, didn't it?" Annabeth nodded.

"Yes, the recoil hurt my arm," she said. "It hurt a little bit, but I was more surprised than anything. The other campers must have thought that he attacked me, because they pretty much ran him out of camp after that. Mom, who was he?" I took several seconds to contemplate what I had just learned. There was only one explanation.

"Come with me," I said. I didn't give Annabeth a chance to respond, but grabbed her by the arm and steered her towards the main palace.

"Where are we going?" Annabeth asked. She was confused and a bit worried over this sudden shift of events.

"Don't talk for now, Annabeth," I said. She looked like she wanted to protest, but remained silent. We reached the palace and the massive doors swung open for me. The other gods weren't here, none of us were here for anything short of council meetings nowadays.

"Father, Hermes!" I called into the air. Within moments, Zeus and Hermes stood in front of me. Hermes chose the simple flash-in entrance, where as my father took the more… shall we say, shock and awe approach; he appeared in a larger-than-necessary burst of lightning.

"Yes, Athena, what is it?" my father asked as he sat down on his throne. He looked a little annoyed that I had dragged him away from whatever he had been doing, but he was also curious about my summoning him. Hermes on the other hand didn't look thrilled that I had brought Annabeth with me.

"Yeah, I'm already thirty-two seconds behind schedule and you're holding me up further, what's so important?" he asked.

"Brother, I asked for you so you could retrieve Hecate," I told him. He looked annoyed at my request.

"Really, that's it?" he asked incredulously. "At least give me something worthwhile if you're going to drag me away from work."

"Just do it," I growled. Hermes raised his hands defensibly, but he didn't look very sorry.

"Sheesh, fine," he said. "One goddess of magic, coming right up." He disappeared in a flash of light only for Hecate to take his place. She bowed to my father and me.

"Lord Zeus, Lady Athena," she said. "To what do I owe the pleasure of being summoned?" In answer, I brought Annabeth forward.

"The Mist, I think it's affecting my daughter," I said. "If it is, remove it." Hecate bowed and faced Annabeth. The two had a staring contest for several seconds before Annabeth's eyes widened and she passed out. I caught her as she fell.

"Well?" I inquired. Hecate looked at Annabeth thoughtfully.

"Yes, her memories were tampered with," Hecate confirmed. "Based on her memories, the same entity that did this to her also changed the memories of all those at Camp Half-Blood."

"What memories were changed?" I asked, though I had my suspicions.

"Any and all that pertained to Perseus Jackson," Hecate said, confirming my suspicions. "Your daughter remembers the last five years of her life, but there are… faded areas, shall we say, where an event has been blacked out. She remembers a person, but not a face, an effect, but not a cause. It is astounding that such a feat was accomplished, and on so wide a scale."

"Who did it?" I asked. I didn't very much care about the boy, but anyone powerful enough to pull something off like this had to be identified, and possibly eliminated.

"I cannot say, my lady," Hecate said. "But, if that is all, I will be leaving."

'Why so eager to leave, Hecate?' I wondered. A suspicion began to grow in my mind about the goddess before me, but now wasn't the time nor the place to act on it.

"Yes, you may go," I replied. Hecate bowed and disappeared in a flash on green light. I turned to my father who hadn't spoken throughout this transaction.

"What do you make of this?" I asked him. He was silent for several seconds.

"Where is Perseus now?" he asked.

"I can answer that," a new voice said. We both turned to see Apollo enter the throne room. His eyes were red and he looked deeply troubled. His voice lacked all of its usual mirth.

"What do you know, son?" Zeus asked him. Apollo bowed slightly before answering.

"He's dead," Apollo said bluntly. My father and I were thrown into utter shock at this news.

"What do you mean he's dead?!" I jumped at Annabeth's voice. She had just woken up, it seemed. Apollo looked at Annabeth and a tear ran down his face.

"The Chimera attacked him in St. Louis," he said. "It happened this morning. I saw most of the fight, Percy fought well, but it wasn't enough." Apollo waved his hand and an image formed beside him of the city of St. Louis. We saw everything from the fight atop the Arch, to the death of the Chimera. The image faded away and a heavy silence fell upon us. Annabeth was the first to break the silence. She began to sob at the loss of her boyfriend, and I couldn't help but pity her. I knelt down and put my arms around her. She returned the hug and cried into my shoulder until her tears ran dry.

"We must tell the others," my father said solemnly. I looked up and was surprised to see a tear at the edge of his eye. Though he never truly loved Perseus, it was now evident that he had some level of affection for him. "Hermes," he called softly. My brother appeared in the throne room for the second time that day and looked as annoyed as before. He was about to say something, but he stopped when he saw the looks on our faces.

"Um, what happened?" he asked. Father shook his head.

"I only wish to say it once," he said. "Assemble the others. Tell them… tell them that we have a fallen hero to honour." Hermes hesitated for several seconds as the puzzle pieces fell into place. When they did, his expression turned to shock, then grief. He shook his head as tears began to fall. I could hear small sniffles coming from his pocket where his Caduceus rested as a cell phone. He disappeared in a flash of light.

Over the next several minutes, the other Olympians flashed in and took their seats. Their attitudes varied from curious to annoyed, and from bored to sad. Poseidon, I noticed, looked puzzled. He obviously hadn't put two and two together yet. On different circumstances, I would have mocked him for his incompetence, but now I wished he could remain behind the safe walls of ignorance. As for the others, Hera, Aphrodite, and Hephaestus looked similar to Hermes the first time he'd been summoned. Apollo and Hermes were obviously sad, but I also saw a pained expression on Artemis' face. Dionysus looked bored as he sat on his throne. Hades and Demeter looked curious about the reason for their summoning. This surprised me, for I expected Hades to be the best informed of us all on the current status of Perseus. Ares was the only one who looked even remotely happy. Well, happy wasn't a word used to describe my hotheaded brother, but he wasn't scowling or looking around for a fight, so that was a start.

"Thank you all for coming," father said once everyone was seated. "No doubt some of you are wondering about the nature of this meeting. Well, there's no point in keeping you all in suspense. A hero has fallen on this day. And that hero was…" At this point, father looked over at Poseidon and I could almost see the terrible realization course through my uncle. "Perseus Jackson."

The council was absolutely still for three seconds before it gave way to mayhem. The noise and confusion increased as each of the gathered immortals tried make their own voices heard. Father, Hermes, Apollo, and I tried to regain order. Throughout it all, Poseidon was the only one silent. He sat in his throne staring blankly into space. Finally, he slammed the butt of his trident into the ground and a tremor ran through the ground. Everyone froze and stared at him warily. He looked each of us in the eyes before speaking.

"Tell me everything," he said to my father. Father nodded and proceeded to explain everything from Percy's eviction from camp to his "defeat" of the Chimera. When it was over, Poseidon stood and looked at my daughter.

"You did this," he said, his voice didn't sound angry, just detached, like he wasn't really there. "You did this," he repeated. He raised his trident and leveled it at Annabeth. I jumped in front of my daughter before Poseidon could harm her. My father's master bolt appeared in his hand.

"Brother, stop this now!" he ordered. Hades rose from his throne and his sword appeared in his hands.

"She is the cause of this," Poseidon said in the same distant tone. "My son is dead because of her. This is justice." Poseidon's voice cracked at the word 'dead', but otherwise remained impassive.

"No, brother," Hades said. "Were you not listening? Hecate said that an outside force affected her mind. She had no choice."

"Then I shall destroy this force as well!" Poseidon shouted and the throne room began to shake as his fury finally erupted.

"Brother!" my father shouted. His bolt blazed with power and the air smelled of ozone.

"Don't do this, Poseidon," Hades said. "Her life is not yours to take." The air metal of his sword hissed and popped due to its low temperature. Just a touch from that blade would be enough to seal any of us in Tartarus. Poseidon looked between his two brothers before looking down sharply. We followed his gaze and were shocked to see Annabeth standing at Poseidon's feet. The look on her face broke my heart, but I was more concerned about what might happen to her. My spear and Aegis appeared in my hands in anticipation. Poseidon looked at my daughter without blinking before shrinking down to his mortal height.

"Please, lord Poseidon," Annabeth said. "You have to believe them. It wasn't me; something forced me to do it. Something forced all of camp to forget Percy. I remember it happening, but I can't explain what happened or why. Please, believe me." Poseidon looked deeply conflicted. You could almost cut the tension in the air with a knife. Finally, Poseidon sighed.

"I believe you," he said softly. "I… I'm sorry for my actions. They were… extreme. But, I must go now. I need time… to mourn." Tears threatened Poseidon's eyes and he disappeared in a sea mist before they could spill out. The rest of us returned to our seats.

"What now?" Hermes asked to no one in particular.

"It is as I said, we shall honour him," father said. "Dionysus, inform those at Camp Half-Blood of the events of this council. Hades, see that he is judged fairly. I believe he found an enemy in Judge Minos, no?"

"That is correct, brother," Hades responded. "I'll carry out his judgment myself. In spite of recent events, I believe he deserves a place in Elysium."

"What recent events?" father asked. His brow furrowed in suspicion.

"Oh, it was nothing, brother," the lord of the Underworld said. "Just a little spat with the Furies again." He said it nonchalantly, but I noticed his brief hesitation, the flash of panic in his dark eyes. He disappeared in a mass of darkness before anyone could respond.

"He deserves more than Elysium," Artemis said. "He should be immortalized in the stars." Many were surprised by the goddess' suggestion, more so because it was her who suggested it than the idea itself.

"Why the sudden burst of generosity towards him, Artemis?" Aphrodite asked. "Does our little huntress have a crush?" I wasn't sure whose glare was more terrifying, Artemis' or Annabeth's.

"Respect is not the same as affection, Aphrodite," Artemis said calmly. "But, I wouldn't expect you to understand respect. The simple fact is that Perseus was a good man and a hero, one of the few I have ever known to exist. I would see that he be made an example for future heroes and men everywhere." Her reasoning made sense, and there was a murmuring of agreement in the throne room.

"Very well, Artemis," father said. "The council seems to be in agreement, so it shall be." Zeus pointed his bolt at the sky and unleashed a powerful blast of lightning that exploded in the vastness of the heavens. After several seconds, the stars began to realign before the shape of a male hero raising his sword in triumph stood amongst the stars.

"The Hero," father said. "Let it be a sign for those to come for all time. With that, let this council adjourn."

* * *

Some time later, I was searching the streets of Olympus for Annabeth. She hadn't been seen since the end of the council. I knew well enough that my daughter was in a fragile state right now, so I didn't want her to do anything stupid. I almost gave up on finding her when I saw her in one of the gardens near the elevator to the mortal world. I felt relief wash over me when I saw that she was safe, but that relief turned to confusion when I saw her with Artemis. My half-sister was nodding solemnly as Annabeth spoke. As quietly as possible, I snuck up to listen in on their conversation.

"You know, Annabeth, there are others like you in the hunt," Artemis said. "Men can hurt women in many ways; not all of them in their cruelty. But, are you sure that this is what you desire?"

"Yes, Lady Artemis," Annabeth said in a shaky voice. "This is what I want."

"Then perhaps you should inform your mother of your plans," Artemis said and turned to my hiding spot. "You can come out, sister." I sighed and approached them. I knew what it was that Annabeth wanted; she knew that I knew as well. She didn't even have to ask.

"If this is what will make you happy, my daughter," I began. "Then you may do it. We will work out some way for you to visit Olympus to finish reconstruction, or perhaps we shall use Iris-messages."

"Thank you, mother," Annabeth said and hugged me. "It's just that… after this, I don't know if I can ever be the same. In the hunt, there are others who have been through the same. Also, I'll be able to see Thalia more, and this… this just seems like the wisest thing to do now."

"I understand, Annabeth," I said. "I'm sure you shall find happiness again."

"Come, Annabeth," Artemis said. "Let us go meet your new sisters and properly make you one of us." Annabeth nodded and stood by Artemis' side. She looked sad, but she looked up at the sky and I could see pride and love shining in her eyes. I followed her gaze and saw The Hero in its new spot. Next to it shined the constellation of that other girl, Zoë Nightshade. The Hunter and The Hero, side by side in the heavens, something about it seemed appropriate. I looked back at Annabeth and she waved a final sad goodbye. I knew that I would see her again, but she would be different then. She would be a hunter. I returned the wave as the two women disappeared in a flash of silver light.

* * *

A/N the story idea for this fic belongs to Anonemuss14. Please thank her for writing such an excellent story.


	7. Time

**Part 2: Rebirth**

_"Throughout time, the world has been shaped and history written by those of my lineage. I can only hope to rise to their greatness."_

* * *

**Chapter Seven: Time**

When I regained consciousness, the first thing I noticed was that the pain was gone. One would think that after a fight with the Chimera you would at the absolute least be a little bit sore, but that wasn't the case. I felt fine; great even, like I could take on an army of Chimera. The second thing I noticed was that I was in my cabin at camp. I got off my bunk and hurried to the door. I opened it to see Camp Half-Blood spread out before me. The only problem was that it was deathly silent. All the sounds I had come to associate with this place were gone.

"Hello, is anybody here?" I called out. My voice echoed across the valley, not disturbed by even the smallest of noises.

"Not really, no," a voice said behind. I spun around to see a young boy sitting against a tree. He wore golden robes and had stark white hair. He couldn't have been more than ten, but his golden eyes glowed with power.

"Who are you?" I asked.

"Ah, but where are my manners," the boy said while standing up and giving a low bow. "I am Chronus, Primordial god of Time."

"Chronus?" I repeated. I wasn't sure what the correct approach was for a primordial god, but I went with the safest route; I bowed back. Chronus laughed at me.

"Well, it's been awhile since anyone has bowed to me," he said cheerfully. "You don't have to if you don't want to, but who am I to order you around. Anyway, you might be wondering where you are, no?"

"Um, is this not Camp Half-Blood?" I asked. Chronus smiled slightly at my question.

"Well, this is my realm," he said. "I altered its appearance because I thought that this… atmosphere would be more appealing to you than the usual environment."

"What is the usual environment?" I asked out of curiosity.

"Exactly," Chronus said. "It can't be described in any way that a mortal, such as you, would understand it. Don't take this the wrong way, Perseus, but when it comes to the Metaphysical, your kind are… incompatible, for lack of a better word."

"Metaphysical?" I asked. "Chiron mentioned that once. He said that it was a topic for another day."

"Well then, it would appear that the day has come," Chronus said. He said down with his legs crossed underneath the tree. "Come and sit with me, Perseus." I obeyed and sat down across from him.

"I told you that I would answer your questions, so shoot," he said. He was the man who had saved me? Something about it didn't seem right.

"Wait, you saved me?" I asked. "But, you look like a little kid. There was a grown man who saved me." Chronus smiled again.

"Do you know what time cycles are?" he asked. I shook my head. "Well, you'll see later. It's easier to explain once you've seen it for yourself." He reached into his pocket and pulled out what looked like a pocket watch, but had an hourglass instead of a clock. I watched as the hourglass changed into a sundial, then an analog clock, and then into a digital clock. Finally in returned to its hourglass form.

"Yes, the effects will take some time, but you'll definitely notice by them when they come," he said after putting away his "watch". "Now, any other questions?" Too many, but where do I start?

"Why am I here?" I asked. "Why did you save me?" Chronus smiled and his golden eyes shone with approval. I had asked the right question.

"You are here because my master requested it," he said. "My master is Khaos. You might have heard of Khaos as the creator of the primordials, and by extension, creation."

"What would Khaos want with me?" I asked, amazed at this information. "I'm just… just a half-blood. There's nothing that special about me." Chronus shook his head, but there was a small smile on his face.

"That is where you're wrong, Perseus," he said. "Khaos saw something in you, untold potential for greatness. Now, there have been others throughout the course of history, but they've all had something holding them back. There was always something that prevented them from joining with me in Khaos' service."

"What is it that's so special about me?" I asked. "I mean, I guess I'm an okay swordsmen, but I'm not the best." Chronus was shaking his head again.

"You're thinking about it the wrong way," he said. "Yes, there have been many warriors throughout history greater than you, but it is not your arm that caught Khaos' eye. It was this." Chronus placed his small against my chest, over my heart.

"History is filled with great warriors, Perseus," Chronus said. "But, it has an unfortunate lack of true heroes. Look up into the sky, Perseus, it is filled with the idols of men, but there only a few that deserve the love and respect they gained. Khaos saw you as the true hero you are. Warriors, the world does need warriors. But, it needs heroes more."

A silence fell between us as Chronus concluded his speech. I thought about his words, I had never really thought about things that way before. When anyone called someone a hero, it was a compliment to his or her prowess in combat. But, Chronus had completely done away with that notion.

"Khaos wants me to join him?" I asked.

"First off, Khaos is not a he," Chronus explained. "Neither is Khaos a she. Khaos… is. Khaos is everything, and nothing. One cannot describe Khaos without first understanding everything about creation. Mortals try to each day, and fail time and time again. But, to your question, yes."

"Do I get to meet Khaos?" I asked. Apparently, this question was immensely funny, because Chronus was on the ground laughing so hard that tears cam to his eyes and it sounded like he was crying. Finally, he stopped to speak.

"Oh no, at least not for a good long while," Chronus said. "Khaos is so powerful, you would be nothing but so much atomic dust the moment you entered his presence."

"Kronos said that he could vaporize me by just being near me," I remembered. Chronus scowled at the mention of the Titan.

"Yes, he was correct, but then again, mortals are quite fragile," Chronus said. I wanted to protest, but didn't bother. To him, everything was probably fragile. He smiled and chuckled randomly.

"I guess you could say that," he said.

"Did you read my mind?" I asked as I made the connection.

"The mind is not simply a book to be read, Perseus," Chronus said. "But, in your manner of speaking, yes. I am arguably the second most ancient and powerful being in existence."

"Arguably second?" I noticed. "Who's your competition?" Chronus chuckled at something.

"My sister, Ananke," he said. "Primordial goddess of Fate. She and her daughters are the ones pulling the strings, literally, behind every event that has happened and will happen. I work with them from time to time, but my involvement is more… discreet, shall we say."

"Okay, but I have a few more questions," I said. Chronus smiled his smile that had already become his most noticeable feature, even more so than his glowing eyes. His smile was like that of a patient parent. It was almost like I was a child that he had to explain the workings of the world to, and he would help me find them no matter what it took.

"Only a few?" he asked sarcastically, but not spitefully. I smiled slightly at his antics. He was unlike any immortal I had ever met before.

"Well, could you tell me what happened to my friends at camp?" I asked. "It was as if they didn't know me. My own mom didn't recognize me." Chronus' cheerful attitude vanished. He didn't respond for several minutes. He looked like he was lost in deep thought. Finally, he closed his eyes and sighed softly.

"Perseus, if you wish to know the truth, I shall tell you," he said. "But, sometimes ignorance is bliss, or so they say. You may not wish to know the truth once you hear it." Achilles' words returned to me again.

"I want to know," I said. Chronus' eyes looked at me with pity, like he knew that the truth would hurt and didn't want me to hear it, but knew also that I wouldn't take "no" for an answer.

"Alabaster Torrington is the root of your misfortune," Chronus said. I looked at him blankly. I didn't understand, so Chronus elaborated. "Alabaster is a son of Hecate who fought on the side of the Titans during the war. He was very loyal to their cause, and none too happy when you defeated them. He urged his mother to continue fighting, but the other Olympians ordered Hecate to stand down or else they would kill her son. Hecate agreed, but her son was banished from the realm of the gods because they didn't want him to, and I'm paraphrasing her, 'corrupt any of their children with his treacherous ways'. Needless to say, Alabaster's hatred only grew. He hated the gods most, but knew that he couldn't do anything about them, so he targeted you. Using his powers over the Mist, he infiltrated your camp and altered the campers' minds. He erased their memories of you while you were away. He believed that you should feel the same loneliness and abandonment that he felt. That is why you are here, Perseus."

I listened to all of this in silence. I should feel angry, right? This guy, Alabaster, had taken everything from me because he was angry with me. That wasn't right, that wasn't fair. I should be angry, but I wasn't. I felt sad, and pity for Alabaster. However, I was angry with the Olympians. Our deal had specified that the soldiers of the Titans should be pardoned. Instead, they had driven Alabaster down the road to revenge. Old habits die hard, I suppose, but it still infuriated me. I looked up at Chronus and saw mixed emotions in his eyes, but the dominant one was pride. He knew about my inner struggle, and knew that I hadn't let anger and betrayal control me like they had to Alabaster.

"What's happened since then?" I asked. "Did things change?"

"Quite a bit," Chronus said solemnly. "It's better to show you." An image formed out of mist beside us. I looked into it and saw multiple things. I saw Athena, Annabeth, and Zeus talking with a woman wearing green. I saw the Olympians gather and a fight almost breakout between my father and my uncles. I saw them place a new constellation in the sky. It ended with Annabeth joining the hunters. somehow, throughout it all, I completely understood what was happening. Even that which went unsaid.

In truth, I had no idea how to react to what I had seen. Should I be sad, angry, betrayed, or even happy? I just felt numb. The thing that affected me the most was the final image. Annabeth had joined the hunters. Even if I ever returned to Earth, things would never be the same between us. I only had one final question.

"What do I do now?" I asked Chronus. His smile returned, though it was smaller and sadder than earlier.

"I'm going to train you, Perseus," he said. "Though I won't go into detail, there is a great evil rising in your world. As you are, you will be of help to nobody. But, given time and effort, you will become the saviour, the hero that the world needs. But, first you must take the first step."

"What is the first step?" I asked. Chronus didn't answer, but instead looked up as the sun reached its noontime peak. He smiled slightly as his body began to glow with a powerful golden light. I averted my eyes to avoid being blinded, and when I looked back, the little boy was gone. In his place, was a grown man wearing the same clothes, with the same white hair, and the same golden eyes as Chronus. He smiled as I gaped in awe at him.

"This is a time cycle, Perseus," Chronus said. "In the mornings, I am a young boy. In the afternoon, I am a man. At night, I am an old man. This cycle continues for as long as time flows, or at least so long as I remain confined to this corporeal form. But, back to the topic at hand, the first step is to swear yourself to my master, to Khaos." I didn't hesitate.

"What must I do?" I asked. Chronus smiled at my immediate answer.

"Give me your sword," he said. I was surprised by the request, but pulled Riptide from my pocket and handed it to the god before me. He looked at the pen for several seconds before uncapping it. Riptide sprang into its true form and gleamed brightly in the sunlight. Chronus turned to me.

"Kneel, Perseus," he said. I obeyed.

"Perseus Jackson, son of Poseidon and Sally Jackson, you are here to bind yourself to Khaos, master of all. If you accept the privilege and responsibility or this position, repeat after me. I, Perseus Jackson, swear myself to the service of Khaos."

"I, Perseus Jackson, swear myself to the service of Khaos," I repeated.

"I swear to uphold the dignity of his name, and spread the truth of his greatness to all who would doubt it."

"I swear to uphold the dignity of his name, and spread the truth of his greatness to all who would doubt it," I repeated.

"I swear that my shield shall protect the innocent, and that my blade shall reap the lives of the guilty."

I repeated the words.

"Rise now, Perseus," Chronus said. "Rise and take on the role you were destined to fill. You have fallen, but like a Phoenix, you are reborn and will rise again. Rise as a servant to Khaos." I stood and faced Chronus. In his hand, Riptide began to glow for several seconds before its bronze color was replaced by a silvery metallic luster. Though it was simple, I couldn't help but admire the beauty of the weapon.

"Perseus, this is the oath you have made," Chronus said. Riptide sprang up and left a shallow cut on my cheek. I didn't even have time to react as the blade flashed past me. I placed my hand to my cheek to feel the cut. I hadn't even felt it as the metal touched my skin. After several seconds, the wound began to sting painfully and I flinched slightly.

"That is so you remember it," Chronus said. "Now, take your weapon, Perseus. Take it so that you might serve Khaos with all of your strength." He held Riptide out to me and I grasped the handle. I marveled at how light the weapon felt now. If possible, it felt even more natural to wield it now than it had before.

"What is this?" I asked as I looked over centimeter of my new weapon.

"Your old sword was adequate, but you deserve a more fitting weapon to go with your new position," Chronus said. "That blade is no longer Celestial Bronze, but Adamantine. It is the rarest and strongest metal in existence. Few other items have ever been crafted from it."

"Thank you, Chronus," I said and bowed to the primordial god. Chronus chuckled at my display.

"Thank Khaos, Perseus," he said. "He chose to bestow it upon you, I was merely the go-between, the middle man if you will. In any case, we have spent enough time here as it is. There is much to be done and our time to do it is only too limited."

"You said you were going to train me," I reminded him; Chronus' brow furrowed in thought. He nodded slowly, but he still looked troubled.

"Well, not exactly," he said. "Combat is not my forte. But, I will send you to the greatest warriors throughout history so that they might teach you what you must know. You will have other masters besides warriors, but they will come later. When your training as a mortal is complete, then I shall complete it, but that will be some time from now."

"What am I training for exactly?" I asked. He had mentioned a rising evil, but didn't specify what it was. Chronus looked troubled again.

"In time, you will know, Perseus," Chronus said. "All in good time."

break

A/N the story idea for this fic belongs to Anonemuss14. Please thank her for writing such an excellent story.


	8. Zoe

**Chapter Eight: Zoë**

**Time Lapse: 304 years**

Darkness and silence, those were my world. Riptide was in my hand, ready for action. My ears were straining to catch the faintest noise. There was nothing, not even the wind moved. For now, I waited; then I heard it: footsteps. They came from behind me. Just before they reached me, I turned and lashed out with Riptide. It cut my attacker's blade in half as they tried to defend themselves. I attacked again and felt Riptide sink into flesh. My attacker let out a pained grunt as my sword disabled him. I heard more footsteps coming from my left and my right. I ducked as an unseen blade whistled over my head. I came up again and blocked an attack from the second opponent. I pushed back and the attacker stumbled back. I kicked behind me and found the body of the third attacker. He grunted and stumbled back as well. I listened as my opponents backed off to plan their next attack.

"Stop, that is enough," a voice said. "Perseus, you may remove your blindfold. Your training with me is complete." I smiled and unwound the cloth that was tied around my head. I blinked several times to adjust to the light of the midmorning sun. When I could see again, I turned to my master, Sun Tzu.

"I am truly finished, master?" I asked. The Chinese general smiled softly and nodded.

"Yes, Perseus, even my finest warriors could not defeat you when they had every advantage on their side," Sun Tzu said indicating the three men next to him. One of them, Li Zhao, was clutching his left shoulder to stop it from bleeding. He caught me looking and smiled bitterly.

"Don't worry about it, Perseus," he said. "I've survived worse than this." I chuckled at his comment.

"Like that event in Mongolia two years ago?" I asked. "That was pretty bad." Zhao touched the side of his head where he still bore a long, jagged scar. He winced at the memory.

"Among other things," he responded.

At that moment, the world around us froze. The five of us looked around as all noise vanished from the countryside and things in motion halted. A pillar of sand rose up from the ground beside us and took on the form of an hourglass. When the sand disappeared, a young boy with golden eyes stood in its place. We all bowed to the primordial of time as he made his entrance.

"Lord Chronus," Sun Tzu said. " I take that you are here to retrieve Perseus." Chronus smiled sadly and nodded.

"Yes, I wish that he could remain here longer," Chronus said. "I know he hasn't enjoyed a time period this much since Venice. Right, Perseus?" I smiled as I remembered those years I spent with the Renaissance master, Leonardo do Vinci. He had been one of my favorite mentors over the past three hundred years.

"That is true, master," I confirmed. "But, I have enjoyed my time here as well. It has been an honor to train and fight beside all of you." I bowed to Sun Tzu and his men. They bowed back.

"The honor is our, Perseus," Sun Tzu responded. "Good luck in your future battles. May you find peace and fortune in your life." I smiled and nodded. There were no words left to say. I walked over to Chronus as the sand began to reappear. I waved back at my companions of the last five years as the sands engulfed my master and me.

"Where, or should I say when, are we off to now?" I asked as the sands of time swirled around us. Chronus gave me a knowing smile.

"Wait and see, Perseus," he said. "I think you might like this one." I looked down at the primordial god and waited for him to elaborate. When he didn't, I chose to remain silent.

The sand disappeared after another minute and I was surprised to see Camp Half-Blood. I hadn't been to Chronus' realm in about a hundred years, not since I had nearly died on Sicily during the first Punic War.

"What are we doing here, master?" I asked. "Am I to be trained here this time?" I asked.

"Yes, your next mentor has been brought here," Chronus said. "We have been arranging this for some time, Perseus. My sister was less than thrilled allow her to be here, but she finally gave in."

"Who is my new mentor?" I asked. Chronus didn't answer, but started walking towards the archery range. I followed him after a brief hesitation. As we got closer, I began to hear a bow being released and arrows embedding in the targets. I found this odd considering I had already spent seven years perfecting archery with Genghis Khan and his Mongols. When we finally came in sight of the archery range, I froze with shock. Standing before me, firing arrow after arrow into the bulls-eyes of her targets, was Zoë Nightshade.

"Zoë, I brought you a friend," Chronus called out. Zoë turned and smiled as she saw me. She walked over to us and stopped in front of me.

"Zoë, is this really you?" I asked. She laughed softly at my obvious shock.

"Yes, Percy, it is really me," she said. She looked me up and down for several seconds. "You've have grown. You're are no longer the idiot half-blood that accompanied me to rescue my lady all those years ago."

I glared at Zoë for her comment, but she started laughing and so was I shortly thereafter.

"Regardless, it's good to see you again, Zoë," I said. "But, how are you here? Artemis put in the sky after you died." Zoë turned to Chronus, but he shook his head.

"It is your story to tell, my dear," he said. "I'll leave you two alone for now, give you a chance to catch up." With that, Chronus disappeared into a vortex of sand. I looked at Zoë.

"Well, I guess I shall tell you my tale then," she said. "Walk with me." She began walking off into the forest and I followed beside her.

"I guess I should start with what you know," she began. "Yes, I was bitten and poisoned by Ladon. Yes, my father grievously injured me. Yes, Lady Artemis chose to immortalize me in the heavens. All of this is true, but I did not die. I was near death when Lady Artemis gave me the greatest honour she could bestow, but the Fates had yet to cut my thread. For an unknown amount of time, I existed in between life and death, sometimes drifting into one or the other. I was like this until Chronus came to me. He offered me another chance at life, with the only catch being that I was to train you when the time was right. He negotiated with his sister, Ananke, for my freedom from the prophecy of the quest. After that, Chronus brought me here and I lived here for a few months until now."

By the end of her story, we had reached Zeus' Fist. The area around it had been destroyed during the Battle of the Labyrinth, but now it was restored to its old beauty. Somehow, the sun had gone down and a full moon had risen in the brief time we had been walking. Its silvery light washed the clearing in a soft glow.

"So you're going to train me," it wasn't a question.

"Yes," Zoë responded. "Chronus told me that you had learned archery, so I was at first uncertain as to what I would teach you."

"But you know now," I said. "If Chronus brought you here at all, there must be something important you know that I must learn."

"Many things actually," Chronus said from behind us. Zoë and I turned to see Chronus as an old man leaning heavily on a golden staff. An hourglass rested on the top of the staff.

"Though the hunters of Artemis are renowned archers, it is only one of their many talents," Chronus explained. "At first, the idea was to send you to train with Artemis herself at some point in the past, but that plan had many flaws to it. Bringing Zoë here was a much better solution."

"What exactly will she be teaching me?" I asked. "I've been training for three hundred years with the greatest warriors, thinkers, and artists. No offense, Zoë, but open combat isn't your strongest attribute, right?" Chronus chuckled.

"You're thinking about it all wrong, Perseus," he said. "True, Zoë is not suited for full out combat, but she has other skills that you lack. The hunters of Artemis have a unique skill set, the likes of which can't be found in a single location anywhere else. Though we could waste time sending you to many different places to learn their skills, it would be infinitely simpler and quicker to have a hunter train you."

"Okay, so what are we waiting for?" I asked. Chronus smiled slightly at my enthusiasm.

"Dawn," he said. "Your new training begins as the new sun rises. I hope both of you get sufficient rest." Chronus turned and walked back to the main part of camp.

"So what will I be learning exactly?" I asked Zoë. She shrugged.

"Everything, I suppose," she said. "Though I don't think about it very often, Lady Artemis taught us many things throughout our time in the hunt that seemed, irrelevant at the time. They were useful at times, but we didn't rely on them very much."

Well, it's better to know it and not need it than need it and not know it," I said. Zoë smiled at my words.

"You really have changed, Percy," she said. "Chronus told me a little bit about what you've been doing, but he didn't go into detail. He didn't tell me what made you leave the world behind, either."

"Are you asking?" I had long since lost any bitterness towards the loss of my old life, or the ones responsible for it. Zoë nodded.

"Well, it's pretty complicated, to say the least," I began. "It began with a mission to rescue a half-blood in California. It didn't take that long, but it was long enough that a son of Hecate named Alabaster was able to infiltrate camp and erase everyone's memory of me. When I got back, it was like they didn't know me at all. They were suspicious and things escalated pretty quickly. Before I knew it, I was on my own."

So Chronus cam to you and offered you a place here?" Zoë guessed.

"Not quite, he saved my life after I had to fight the Chimera," I responded. Zoë's eyes widened and her mouth dropped open when I mentioned the Chimera.

"You fought the Chimera, alone?" she asked. "That is a brave feat even for a bearer of the Curse of the Styx."

"Actually, the curse wasn't working," I said. "Chronus said that it was because my mom didn't know me anymore. It technically counted as disowning me and the blessing she gave me didn't count anymore. That nearly cost me my life. I still don't know how I managed to beat it."

"So now you serve Khaos," Zoë summed up. I nodded.

"Yes, I've never met Khaos, and Chronus hasn't talked to me about the creator, but it feels… right, I guess, to be in his service. It's like I'm doing something worthwhile. Most of my mentors know about Khaos and his workings in the world in some way or another, but I've helped them solidify their faith while I trained with them."

"It's must be good to have a clear purpose for your life," Zoë said sadly. "I'm not resentful, Perseus, but as far as I know, I'll return to my place in the sky once I've trained you."

I was surprised to hear Zoë say this. I hadn't considered the idea that she was only alive to train me.

"Why not join us?" I offered. Zoë looked surprised, like that hadn't occurred to her.

"Chronus didn't come to me for me to join," Zoë said. "I am meant to teach you, then… then, I don't know what. But, if Khaos wished for me to join with you all, wouldn't Chronus have asked?"

"Maybe, but you never know with primordials," I responded. "Chronus said that I was chosen because of my potential for greatness, not the greatness I already possessed. If you asked, I'm sure Khaos would accept you." Zoë smiled at my words.

"I'll think about it, but for now, you should get some rest," she said. "Don't think I'll make your training easy just because you're my friend."

I wouldn't dream of it," I said with a smile on my face.

* * *

**Time Lapse: 148 years**

Time went by, my training continued across time and under many different mentors. Zoë eventually talked to Chronus about her joining us permanently, and he was happy she had finally asked. She began to accompany me when I went away to learn, and it became increasingly rare that we weren't in each other's company. Despite my better judgment, I found myself attracted to being with her above almost anything else. Don't get me wrong, Zoë was a great friend, the longest I had had in all of my time in Khaos' service, but I was hesitant towards pursuing a romantic relationship; partly because of past events, but also because of Zoë herself. She had been a hunter for nearly two thousand years before her death. Compared to that, a hundred years was almost nothing. Perhaps I did like Zoë as more than just a good friend, but I wasn't going to risk her trust because I followed my heart over my head. That was a lesson Hannibal Barca had drilled into me. Regardless, I couldn't help the way I felt.

"Quit doing that," Zoë said to me.

"Doing what?" I asked in an overly innocent tone. She glared at me.

"You're holding back again," she said. "Stop doing that."

"Zoë, I can say without exaggeration that I am one of the best swordsmen to have ever lived," I said seriously. "If we were immortal, then I might really fight, but I can't risk it. Zoë, I can only hold back against you." Zoë sighed.

"Then at least fight harder," she said. "It's like your not even trying."

I really wasn't trying; Zoë was pretty awful when it came to swordplay, but I wasn't going to say that to her. Give her some hunting knives or a bow, and she would send me home in a body bag. But with a sword, she was hopeless. Then again, I was hopeless at archery at one time.

"Alright, I'll fight harder," I said. Zoë nodded and took a defensive stance. At least form was something that came naturally to her; in fact, many aspects of fighting with a sword came easy to her. The problem was that she used a sword like a hunting knife. Swords were longer, heavier, and slower than her knives, but she insisted on using them the same way.

Without warning, Zoë jumped to the right and stabbed at me with her sword. I barely moved as I effortlessly swatted her blade away. Zoë tried to attack my face, but each of her strikes were clumsy and slow. She made several mistakes that I could have exploited, but chose not to. Finally, I decided to end this before Zoë could yell at me again. When she got too close, I locked our blades together and twisted. Her sword clattered to the ground and Riptide flew to her throat, more from habit than actual need. Zoë sighed and raised her hands in defeat.

"You still weren't fighting that hard," she commented.

"Tell you what, I'll give you my best, if you give me your best," I said. "Zoë, a sword isn't your weapon. Hunting knives are the melee weapon you're accustomed to; maybe you should just focus on those."

"I remember that a bow wasn't your weapon either," she said calmly. "But now you can use it as well as any hunter."

"Touché, Zoë, touché," I said. "But, in my own defense, I had Genghis Khan for a mentor." Zoë smiled at my excuse.

"Well, I had a goddess of the hunt for my mentor, but we're equals when it comes to archery," she said. "You were able to learn the bow in what, seven years? That means that I should be able to learn how to use a sword like that." Zoë snapped her finger for emphasis. I rolled my eyes at her obvious insult.

"Whatever, Zoë," I said lamely. Zoë smiled in triumph.

"Score is: Zoë 78, Percy 3," Chronus said from the entrance of the arena. Zoë laughed at his antics, and even I couldn't hide a smile.

"Hello, Chronus," I said as Zoë and I bowed. "When is my next destination?" Chronus smiled and his golden eyes shined with excitement.

"There will be no more of that," he said. "Your training as a mortal is now over. But, that all was easy compared to what is coming next." I raised an eyebrow skeptically.

"Easy, eh?" I asked. "You call 452 years of near-death training across time and space easy? What could possibly be harder than that?" Chronus smiled widened like he was enjoying this immensely.

"Like I said, your training as a mortal is now over," he repeated. "But, you have yet to truly develop your immortal abilities. From now on, I'll be training you in the growth of your powers as a demigod."

"So, my powers over water?" I clarified.

"Among other things, but this is all preparing you for your audience with Khaos," Chronus said. My eyes widen and my heartbeat all but stopped.

"You mean… I'm going to speak with Khaos?" I asked. Chronus nodded.

"As you are now, you won't be able to withstand the sheer power of Khaos, but with the proper training, you'll finally be able to gain his full blessing."

I was about to ask more questions, but a flash of light and an explosion from behind me cut me off. I turned to see a starburst of light shine in the sky before winking out of existence. I turned to Chronus to see him staring in complete shock at the sky.

"Um, Chronus?" I asked.

"Are you okay, master?" Zoë asked. "What was that?"

"We're out of time," Chronus mumbled. "It's begun."

"Chronus, what's begun?" I asked. "Is it the evil that I've been training to defeat?"

"Both of you must go now," Chronus said. He reached forward and touched my forehead. The next instant, I knew a location and a time to be there.

"Is this where I go?" I asked. Chronus nodded quickly. His expression looked panicked.

"Quickly, you must go before it is too late," he said as the sands of time began to swirl at me and Zoë's feet. "Be careful, Perseus. Your training is not yet complete, but we can pray to Khaos that what you know is sufficient."

So many questions swirled around in my head, but the sands enveloped Zoë and I before I could ask them. When they were gone, Zoë and I were standing on a hill overlooking a battle.

* * *

A/N the story idea for this fic belongs to Anonemuss14. Please thank her for writing such an excellent story.


	9. Death

**Chapter Nine: Death**

Ten years might seem like a long time, but it isn't. The events that transpired then are as clear as if they had happened yesterday. I remembered Percy, and how I had unwillingly betrayed him. Though the periods of depression I would occasionally go into had ceased, I had yet to truly get over his death. The other hunters knew that I still loved Percy, but they didn't think any less of me for it; they had a respect for Percy that was uncommon for a boy.

"Annabeth, wake up," Thalia said, interrupting me from my memories. I rolled over in my sheets and looked at my friend. She was in the entrance to my tent with her traveling clothes on and a bow in hand. The moonlight shined off the silver of her lieutenant's circlet. I was surprised that the sun wasn't up yet.

"What time is it?" I mumbled sleepily. My recent dreams hadn't afforded me much sleep, so I wasn't eager to get up too early.

"4 o'clock," Thalia answered. The only things that had us up that early were an attack, or…

"We're moving," I guessed. Thalia nodded. "Where are we going?" I asked as all thoughts of sleep left.

"We're going back to camp, Annabeth," Thalia said. "We're going back for the anniversary." I stopped moving. I hadn't returned to camp since Percy… since he died. I had been told that the campers understood why I had left them and didn't hate me, but I still didn't know how I would face them.

"Okay, I'll be ready in a few minutes," I said. Thalia nodded and backed out of the tent.

It actually took a little under a few minutes for everyone to get ready to leave. Our camp was disassembled and packed away in record time and we were on our way long before the sun rose. Throughout our trip, the other hunters kept glancing at me nervously. I pretended to ignore them. Thalia fell into step beside me.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

Of course, why wouldn't I be?" I said, but we both knew I was lying.

"Annabeth, don't lie to me," Thalia said. "I know that you're still upset about what happened. But, it's in the past. Percy wouldn't want you to dwell on his death."

"I know, Thalia," I said. "It's just… I don't know if I can face them. I haven't even spoken to any of them since I join all of you. Chiron, Clarisse, they might all hate me."

"Come on, Annabeth, they won't hate you," Thalia assured me. "Artemis talked to Chiron and explained everything to the campers. From what she says, they understood and didn't hate you for your choice."

"Still…" I mumbled.

"It'll be fine, Annabeth," she urged. "Worst case scenario, we beat them during capture the flag again." I smiled slightly at Thalia's unique logic.

"Maybe you're right," I said. Thalia laughed.

"There's no maybe about it," she said confidently. "Now come on, we're falling behind.

* * *

Over the next two days, we made our way to New York and Camp Half-Blood. We crossed over Half-Blood Hill on the morning of the third day. We weren't very surprised to find the campers at the dining pavilion when we arrived. Only Argus was in front of the Big House waiting for us. He bowed to Artemis and nodded to the other hunters. Many of the hunters returned his nod while our newest recruit stared in amazement at his many eyes. Her name was Amelia; she was a mortal who had joined us a few weeks ago. She was still getting used to everything that was happening. The sound of hooves drew our attention to towards the dining pavilion as Chiron cantered towards us.

"Lady Artemis, it's good that you've finally arrived," Chiron said with a bow. "The campers aren't very happy about missing capture the flag yesterday. But, I wanted them all ready for the match with your hunters."

"No apology is needed, Chiron," Artemis said. "I expect nothing less than your campers' best against my hunters. I assume the game is still scheduled for this evening."

"Yes, and if you'd like, breakfast isn't over," Chiron said. "The hunters are more than welcome to sit in with us."

"Thank you, but we've already had breakfast," Artemis said. "I think we'll just get settled into Cabin 8. Thalia, lead the way." Thalia nodded and walked towards the designated cabin with the other hunters behind her. I was about to follow her, but Artemis stopped me.

"Annabeth, it isn't wise to run from your past," she said. "I won't force it upon you, but I don't think you should delay things any longer."

I did want to delay this for as long as possible, but I nodded to the goddess.

"I will, my lady," I said steadily, but on the inside, I was panicking.

Artemis nodded and walked off to join the other hunters. I took a deep breath before turning to face Chiron. He didn't say anything and we just stood there silently for what felt like years. Chiron broke the silence by closing the distance to me.

"Chiron, I—" Chiron interrupted me by leaning down and hugging me. I was surprised, but wrapped my arms around my mentor.

"I have missed you, Annabeth," Chiron said. "When I heard about Percy, it was hard, but it was worse when you disappeared too."

"I'm sorry, Chiron," I said. "I was just… I needed to get away from it all. I thought that the hunters could help me. They did, but this will always be my home."

"Do not apologize, child, we were all hurt by Percy's passing; and ashamed of our roles in it," Chiron said. "The others bear you no ill will for what you did, but they would have preferred you speak to them first."

"Can I speak with them?" I asked tentatively. Chiron smiled softly.

"When they heard you were coming, they all assembled in the Big House," he explained. "They want to speak with you, Annabeth, and they have been waiting for a very long time." I nodded and wiped away my tears. Chiron led me to the door of the Big House and gently pushed me in. he nodded and walked back to the dining pavilion. I steeled my nerves and walked towards the Rec room. When I arrived, I heard murmurs of conversation on the other side of the door. I couldn't make out any words, but there were obviously several people inside. I took one last shaky breath before knocking softly on the door. The noise vanished. The knob turned and the door swung inward to reveal my brother, Malcolm standing right in front of me. He had grown, but then again, ten years is a long time.

"Annabeth," he said softly. "Come in."

I entered the room and saw the counselors seated in a circle around a large oak table. Apparently they had gotten rid of the ping-pong table. Among those gathered, I saw many familiar, but slightly older, faces. At the head of the table sat Clarisse. She had an eye patch over her left eye. I had heard about that attack. It had been almost a year ago. Though I had never heard any details about it, Clarisse had lost both her eye and Chris in the attack. To her right was Shawn, he had grown as well and I could see the hilt of a sword over the table. To Clarisse's left sat a beautiful girl with long black hair and silver eyes. She stared at me unwaveringly with an odd curiosity. For several minutes, the campers just stared at me, not knowing what to do.

"Been a while, hasn't it, owl head?" Clarisse said, breaking the awkward silence.

"Ten years to be exact," I said. Clarisse chuckled as if my answer amused her.

"Still a know-it-all, I see," she said. "At least some things haven't changed. Well, how has time with the hunters been treating you? I see that aging hasn't been much of a concern." I sighed.

"Look, Clarisse, everyone, when Percy d-died, I was a wreck," I said. "I didn't know what to do, but I couldn't come back here. So, I turned to Artemis. Over the past ten years, she and the hunters have helped me come to terms with what happened ten years ago. I'm sorry for abandoning you guys, but I couldn't think of what else to do."

"There's no need to apologize, Annabeth," Shawn said. "We were sad that Percy died, ashamed that we forced him from camp, and angry that you just left, but that was the past. When Artemis explained everything to Chiron, it took some of us longer to cool down than others, but we all came to accept your decision." I looked around at the assembled faces and saw them all nodding in agreement, all except the girl with silver eyes. She was still just staring at me.

"None of you hate me, really?" I asked. Clarisse rolled her eyes.

"Do you want us to hate you, Annabeth," she said. "Because I think it's already pretty damn clear that we don't." A few of the campers chuckled. I smiled slightly.

"Thank you, all of you," I said. Clarisse held up her hand.

"Don't thank us yet, girly," she said. "We're still going to end the hunters' winning streak tonight. If that means we have to knock you senseless, so be it." I smiled truly now.

"We'll see about that Clarisse," I said. The daughter of Ares looked happy that I was acting like I had ten years ago.

"Alright then, meeting over, go about your business," she said to the campers. They all stood up and filed out of the room, except for Clarisse, Shawn, and the girl.

"Go," Clarisse said to the two. Shawn rose and left the room. The girl didn't move at first, but rose and walked out without a word. Clarisse's eye followed her out of the room.

"Who was that?" I asked. Clarisse's look darkened.

"That was Arianna Veil," she said. "She's the only unclaimed camper here."

"Unclaimed?" I asked. "But that's impossible. Percy made the gods promise to claim their children."

"I know, but she's been here for ten years and has remained unclaimed the entire time," Clarisse explained. "I'm not trying to influence you before you meet her or anything, but I don't trust her."

"What's wrong with her?" I knew that while Clarisse was hostile towards just about everybody, she was very forward with it. The way she made it sound, she had kept her suspicions to herself.

"Nothing really," Clarisse said. "But, I just have this feeling. Almost everybody at camp likes her, especially the boys, and she's seems like a very nice person. But, she's also very mysterious. She would sometimes disappear for days at a time and reappear like nothing happened. I'm just saying, Annabeth, keep an eye on her. She's one of the best warriors here. Only myself and Shawn have been able to beat her in a fight."

"I'll keep that in mind," I said. I looked out the window and saw the girl in question, Arianna, leaning against the Hermes Cabin. Though I couldn't be sure, she seemed to be staring straight at me. Even from that distance, I could feel her silver eyes boring into me.

* * *

Hours later, the hunters and campers had gathered together for the traditional Capture the Flag game. The campers were obviously pumped up about the event, and the hunters were as well, but we were more confident that the campers appeared to be. Lady Artemis had returned to Olympus. She said that there was a special meeting that she was required to attend. Hopefully, she would be back by the end of the match.

"Attention, the rules are as follows," Chiron said. "No killing, keep maiming to a minimum, all magical items are allowed, and the creek shall act as a boundary. I will serve as a referee and battlefield medic. If both sides are ready, let the match begin."

The hunters and I rushed into the woods with the campers right behind us. There was a ten-minute grace period for everyone to get into position before the match truly began.

"Remember the plan, Annabeth," Thalia said. I rolled my eyes.

"I will, Thals," I assured her. "I came up with it after all." Thalia glared at me, but the conch horn sounded in the distance and she had to run off to join the attack group.

"Just do it," she called back to me.

"Alright, lets go," I said to my group. Phoebe and another girl would be helping me circle around and capture the campers' flag as discretely as possible.

Things began well enough. We made it over the creek and half way through the woods before we saw any campers; it was Shawn. He was patrolling the area with the Stolls. They came very close to finding us, but action closer to the center drew them away. We continued on our way.

When we finally found the campers' flag, I was surprised that there was only one person defending it. Clarisse stood calmly in front of the flag with her helmet in the crook of her arm and her only apparent weapon being a small knife at her belt.

"I'm glad to see that the campers weren't too much for you, Annabeth," Clarisse said. "I wanted to test you myself."

I knew that Clarisse was a good warrior, one of the best, but she seemed overly confident. I didn't think that even she was arrogant enough to underestimate 5 hunters.

"Don't worry, Clarisse, you'll get your fight," I replied. Clarisse grinned evilly and put on her boar shaped helmet. Then, she pulled out her bronze knife and spun it a few times before it transformed into a spear. The head of the spear crackled with electricity.

"We'll, what're you waiting for?" Clarisse taunted. In answer, Phoebe stepped forward and unsheathed her sword.

"I'll handle this one," she said without taking her eyes off Clarisse.

Phoebe narrowed her eyes as she analyzed the daughter of Ares before her. I could already tell that Clarisse's only flaw in defense would be her left side where her eye patch impaired her vision. Phoebe must have come to the same conclusion, because she began to circle around to Clarisse's left. Clarisse smiled and began walking to the right, still facing Phoebe. The two stopped after several seconds and just watched each other; the air was thick with tension.

The hunter beside me moved her foot and a branch snapped. Almost like it was a signal, the two girls leapt into action. Phoebe jumped to Clarisse's left to stay in her blind stop, but a lightning fast stab by Clarisse's spear caused her to jump back.

Clarisse followed up with a stab at Phoebe's sword arm. Phoebe dodged to the side, but Clarisse swung her spear to follow her and Phoebe had to block with her sword. Phoebe dodged another jab from the spear and slashed at Clarisse's head. Clarisse blocked and shoved Phoebe back with enough force that she stumbled back several steps. Clarisse didn't give Phoebe a chance to recover. She ran forward and spun hers pear as she went. Her weapon transformed into a short club, which she slammed into Phoebe's head. My friend and comrade hit the ground, unconscious.

I stared in amazement at how quickly Clarisse had beaten Phoebe. Second to Thalia, she was our best hand-to-hand combatant.

"Enough warm-ups, Annabeth," Clarisse said. "Show me what you've learned from Artemis."

I was about to respond when something fell from the trees and landed behind Clarisse. I tried to warn my old friend, but I was too late. A bronze blade stabbed Clarisse in the back an came out of her the other end covered in red liquid. Clarisse gasped in shock and looked down at the glistening blade. The sword was twisted sharply and Clarisse cried out in agony. Over Clarisse's shoulder, I saw a pair of glowing silver eyes staring at me menacingly.

Arianna's arm reached around Clarisse and took her club from her weak grip. She twirled the weapon and it returned to its original form of a knife. I watched horror as Arianna slit Clarisse's throat with her own weapon. Clarisse's body fell to the ground and became still.

"You... you killed your own comrade," the hunter beside me said in horror. Arianna grinned evilly at us.

"Please, that bitch had it coming," she said calmly. "I could've killed her sooner, but I had never had a perfect opportunity, until now. I should thank you for your help, but I think I'll just kill you instead."

As she finished, a ball of flame materialized in her hand and she threw it at us before we could react. The fireball exploded into the hunter beside me and I jumped away to avoid being burned. I watch in disbelief and horror as my sister was burned alive. Her screams tore through the night air.

I tried to get to my feet and run for help, but I couldn't move. My heart hammered in my chest and I began to panic as my body rose into the air. Arianna walked into my line of sight with her hand extended towards me and a smile on her face.

"I expected more from someone with your reputation, Ms. Chase," Arianna said. "But, then again, you are just a half-blood. Goodbye, Ms. Chase."

Arianna twirled her knife and it transformed into a spear. She leveled the spear at my heart and would have killed me, but a figure detached itself from the shadows and slammed into Arianna's side. I fell to the ground as the new arrival battled Arianna for control of the spear. Upon closer inspection, I saw that my rescuer was Nico. I couldn't make out many details, but he had obviously grown since I had seen him last. I tried to rise and help, but a pain in the back of my head forced me back on the ground. I could only watch the fight before helplessly.

Despite being surprised, Arianna quickly regained control of the situation. She kicked Nico off of her and jumped to her feet. She tried to stab him while he was down, but Nico vanished into the shadows. He reappeared behind her and Arianna barely managed to block the blade of his sword. She tried to counterattack, but Nico disappeared again. Arianna ducked as Nico's blade appeared behind her and almost killed her. She spun around and knocked the son of Hades of his feet with her spear, but Nico disappeared again before she could truly attack.

That is when things changed. Arianna spun around and twirled her spear like it was a baton. It transformed into a sword, which she stabbed into what appeared to be nothing. Unfortunately, Nico chose that moment to appear in that exact spot. By the hand of the fates, the blade only stabbed Nico in the shoulder of his left arm, but it wasn't much relief. Nico cried out in pain from the unexpected attack. Arianna twisted the sword and Nico's pain increased. Just as I thought things couldn't get worse for my friend, Arianna jerked the sword up sharply and completely severed Nico's left arm from his body. I watched numbly as Nico's arm fell to the ground, his fingers still twitching. Arianna kicked Nico in the back and he fell to the ground.

"Let this be a message to your father," she said to Nico's prone form. "I'm beyond his power. No matter how much he tries, no matter how many lives are lost, he will not have me." She kicked Nico in the side for good measure. Then, she turned he evil gaze to me. She walked over to me slowly and raised her hand again. I rose with it until I was suspended in the air before her.

"You're my insurance," she said. "If di Angelo dies, you'll act as my messenger. Tell whomever you want to of what has happened here, chase after me if you must. Try to kill me. I don't need an answer, Ms. Chase. I know you'll tell them. Goodbye for now. I hope we see each other again."

At the end of her dialogue, she made a shoving action with her hand and I flew back into a tree. The impact almost caused me to black out. Through the pain, I looked up in time to see Arianna step into a shadow and disappear. Then the pain took me and my world dissolved into blackness.

* * *

A/N the story idea for this fic belongs to Anonemuss14. Please thank her for writing such an excellent story.


	10. Hunt

**Chapter Ten: Hunt**

When I woke up, I was surprised to find myself in the infirmary, as opposed to DOA Record Studios. My body hurt from so any places that I longed for the oblivion of sleep to return, but I couldn't do that. Even if it was what she wanted, I had to tell Lady Artemis about Arianna.

I tried to sit up, but I was too weak and fell back onto the bed. I looked around for something to help me up, but saw nothing. I tried to call for help, but my throat was dry and only a hoarse whine came out. I was beginning to panic when the doors opened.

"He's stable for now, but he also lost a lot of blood," someone, I think it was Will, said. "He'll be here for at least another few weeks. I still can't imagine what could do this to him. Nico seemed like such a powerful half-blood."

"What about Annabeth?" it was Thalia now. "She wasn't doing very good either. Is she okay?"

"I'll check, but she shouldn't be awake yet," Will responded. He pulled back the curtains around my bed and his eyes widened when he saw that I was, in fact, awake.

"Hey, Thalia, she's up," he said my friend. Thalia almost pushed him over as she ran to my side.

"Annabeth, how are you; what happened?" Thalia asked. "We came when we heard the screams, but we were too late. You and Phoebe were unconscious, Clarisse and Angela were dead, and Nico... Nico had his arm cut off. What the Hades happened?!"

I tried to speak, but my throat was still too dry. "Water," I croaked out.

"Well, get her some water," Thalia said impatiently to Will when she realized what I needed. Will rushed off and returned with a large cup of water and a smaller glass of Nectar. I drank both so quickly that I barely tasted the sweetness of the Nectar.

"It was that girl," I said at last. "Arianna, she showed up and killed Clarisse and Angela. She almost killed me, but Nico showed up to protect me."

"He didn't do a very good job," Thalia commented. "He was almost dead by the time we found him. Will says that he'll live, but his left arm is obviously gone."

I felt guilt well up inside me. Nico had almost died protecting me. Even though he would live, I couldn't imagine how awful it must be to lose your arm.

"As for Phoebe, she tried to fight Clarisse, but that didn't go so well," I continued after a brief hesitation. "It's probably for the best. Her being unconscious saved her life." Thalia nodded.

"Tell me more about this girl, Arianna," she said to Will.

"Well, to begin, everyone just calls her Ari, and she's the only unclaimed camper here," Will explained. "She's been here for ten years and nobody knows who her godly parent is."

"That's impossible," Thalia said. "The gods are done ignoring their children. There's no way this girl can go ten years without being claimed."

"That's how it is," Will said. "She says that her dad was mortal, so that narrows down the possibilities a bit, but she's still hard to figure out. Even Chiron has no idea who her godly parent might be."

"It's Eris," a new voice said. We all turned to see Artemis appear in a flash of silver light. "The girl's mother is Eris, goddess of discord and chaos."

"How do you know this, milady?" Thalia asked.

"That was the purpose of the meeting last night," she explained. "Hades brought us together and told us about her and his many attempts to kill her over the years."

"She mentioned that," I remembered. "She said that Hades couldn't touch her no matter what he did."

"I thought that the gods agreed to stop killing powerful demigods out of fear," Thalia said. "It might be because Hades is trying to kill her that she went psychotic."

"Don't try to defend her, Thalia," Artemis said. "Even if she were merely a powerful demigod, the crimes she has committed must be punished, severely. But, she is also a child born of chaos. Eris has never had a child that was truly good. Most are evil and destructive like their mother. For someone like this girl, Arianna, she must be dealt with quickly, before she can cause more harm." Artemis glanced over her shoulder at what I imagined was Nico. From my position, I couldn't see him and didn't want to; just the memory of last night made me shudder.

"What are we to do, milady?" Thalia asked.

"We're going to hunt her, of course," Artemis said stoically. "She has left quite the trail to follow, the hard part will be to actually kill her."

"When do we depart?" I asked. Although the thought of facing Ari again terrified me, I also wanted to avenge Clarisse, Angela, and Nico. Artemis looked at me sadly. She hesitated for several seconds before sighing.

"Right now," she said. She placed her hand on my shoulder and it glowed with a silvery light. Almost immediately, all pain and weariness left me and I managed to get out of bed without the slightest trouble.

"Come, we must assemble the others," Artemis said. We began to exit the infirmary, but a weak voice stopped us.

"You don't know what you're getting into," it was Nico. My stomach rolled as I looked as what was once my good friend. His left shoulder was a mass of red bandages and his face was all but covered with several red stains bleeding through the white linen.

"What do you know of our prey, boy?" Artemis asked. She wasn't rude, nor impatient. She looked eager to gain as much knowledge as possible about this new threat.

"She's more than just a demigod," Nico said weakly. "I don't truly understand what she is, but I know that much. Don't underestimate her, if you do, then she will not hesitate to destroy you." With that, Nico closed his eyes and returned to his original unconscious state.

I looked at Artemis and saw the discomfort on her face. Though she probably didn't understand either, she was obviously more worried than she had been just a few moments ago.

"You're sure you can't wait for a little while?" Will asked.

"Why should we?" Thalia responded.

"Because we're not just going to stand by and let that bitch get away," he said. "She killed Clarisse and did... that to Nico, we're not just going to do nothing."

"And you shouldn't," Artemis said. "Inform your comrades of what has happened, and make yourselves ready to pursue her. We will not wait for you, so it would be best if you moved as quickly as possible." Will nodded.

"I have to stay here with Nico, but if you could send someone this way, then I can have them relay the message for me," he said.

"We will do that," Artemis said before she left the infirmary with Thalia and I at her heels.

* * *

Half an hour later, the hunters were on the move. Artemis had said that Ari's trail would be easy to follow. But, that trail began in the city. All morning, there had been numerous "accidents" all over the place. Though the mortals didn't see it, they were too numerous to be coincidence and went in a clearly defined line across Manhattan Island. It was also noticed that the line of destruction chose to make a wide arc around the Empire State Building, and Olympus.

"Let us try to take her by surprise," Artemis said as we made our way across Central Park. "If you see an opening, fire at will."

This was met by a general ascent from the hunters. They were only to eager to kill the one who had caused so much trouble.

As we followed the path of Ari, we eventually left the city and entered open countryside. It was strange how such a rural area could exist so near to the largest city in the country, but here it was. Despite the lack of dense population, Ari's movements were still easy to follow. There would always be something that gave away her recent passing.

"It's as if she wants us to follow her," Thalia observed. Artemis looked uneasy at the possibility.

"I would imagine that she does," she said. "She managed to escape from the camp and make it to the city without being noticed. I refuse to believe that the ease with which we are tracking her is due to carelessness on her part."

"It's a trap then," I surmised. Artemis took her time answering. When she did, she almost sounded afraid.

"More than likely," she said solemnly. "Under different circumstances, I would abandon this hunt for fear of the results. But, we cannot. There's no telling how much trouble she could cause if left unchecked."

Nobody talked after that. We continued trailing our prey with noticeably less vigor than before.

"Hey, Thalia," I said when the sun was nearing the horizon.

"Yeah?" She responded beside me.

"What do you think will happen?" I asked quietly. "You know, when we find her." Thalia shook her head slowly.

"I don't know, Annabeth," she said. "In all truth, I'm hoping we don't find her at all."

"Agreed," I said. "But, I don't think I'll be able to live with myself if I just let her get away."

"I understand that, but the last time I felt this tense for a battle was just before Mount Tam," she said. I shuddered as I remembered that day. I had never seen Thalia cry before or since, but having to fight Luke like that, it got to her. If she felt at all similar to then, I knew that things were going to get worse before they got better.

We had roughly half an hour of sunlight left when we reached an open field with a single tree standing at its center. It was a massive oak tree with its upper branches spreading out nearly 10 meters above the ground. Artemis halted us before we could get close.

"I don't like this," she said. "Hunters, set up a perimeter. Shoot anything that moves. Thalia, come with me." The hunters spread out and made a wide circle around the tree. I pulled out my bow and notched an arrow. I didn't draw it back, but I was prepared to do so at the slightest movement. Thalia activated Aegis and her spear as she followed behind Artemis. As for herself, Artemis walked up to the tree empty handed. She looked calm, but she was used to working under pressure. The two women didn't stop until they were directly under the tree. Artemis looked up into the branches, but they were shrouded in shadows. She took one step closer, but immediately went rigid. The next moment, the ground at her feet exploded with movement. She tried to jump back, but it was useless. Before anyone knew what had happened, Artemis was suspended in the air by an unknown force. Immediately, every hunter, including myself, rushed down to aid our mistress. When I arrived, I saw, to my dismay, that Artemis was trapped in a large net. The wire that made the net was so thin that it was nearly invisible. Phoebe and Thalia tried to tear the net open, but it proved stronger than it looked.

"Don't waste your time," Artemis said; I could hear equal amounts of outrage and fear in her voice. "This net was built solely to trap gods. Only another god can break it from the outside."

"What do we do, Artemis?" Thalia asked frantically. "We can't leave you here."

"You'll have to," Artemis responded. "Go quickly and get help."

"I'm afraid I can't allow that," my blood froze as I heard that voice. I spun around to see Ari standing a few meters away with a sword in her hand. The hunters quickly positioned themselves between her and Artemis. For her part, Ari disregarded us altogether and smiled sadistically at the twelve year old goddess in the net.

"I'll admit, I'm a bit disappointed, goddess," she said to Artemis. "I had expected you to offer me more of a challenge."

"Release me, and you shall get your challenge," Artemis growled. Ari chuckled softly, but there was no humour in it.

"I am many things, goddess, but a fool is not one of them," she said calmly. "No, I prefer you right where you are."

"Release her, now!" Thalia yelled at Ari. She raised Aegis and pointed the head of her spear at the daughter of Eris. Ari look unimpressed by Thalia's hostility.

"I'm going to give you all one chance to leave," she said. "I have places to go and people to see, so if you don't mind..."

"Like that's going to happen," Phoebe muttered. She pulled back the string of her bow and fired an arrow at Ari. It almost found its mark, but Ari caught the projectile without even looking. She turned to face us and snapped the arrow with a resounding CRACK.

"So, you chose death then," she said with a small smile spreading across her face. Before another arrow could be fired, she sank into the ground and disappeared.

"Back to back!" Thalia ordered. We all made a circle around Artemis so that everything was in our line of sight. We waited I. That position as the sun continued to set.

"Bad decision," Ari's voice said. We all looked around for the source, but didn't see her. Then a terrifying realization came to me. I looked up into the tree and saw a pair of glowing, silver eyes gazing back at me. I might have yelped in fright, but all I remember was firing arrows as fast as I could at those sinister orbs. The eyes darted back and forth as Ari dodged first mine, then the other hunters' arrows. We ceased firing when realized that our arrows were all used up.

"Pitiful, and you call yourselves archers," Ari taunted from above. Without warning, she dropped down and landed in the middle of us. She began slashing in wide arcs, catching many hunters in the arms, legs, or torsos. For those of us that escaped her initial strikes, we backed up and hurriedly unsheathed our other weapons. Many still weren't fast enough; Ari twirled her sword and it became a bow. With astonishing speed and accuracy, she began to pick us off one by one. I fell to the ground as an arrow flew into my shoulder, and another found my thigh. Only Thalia with her shield and Phoebe with her agility were able to get close.

Phoebe rushed Ari with her sword and tried to finish her, but Ari was just getting started. She spun her bow and it transformed into a spear. She deflected Phoebe's first strike and sidestepped another. She spun her spear and it became a sword once more. She locked weapons with Phoebe and twisted her blade. Phoebe's sword clattered to the ground and Ari slammed the pommel of her sword into Phoebe's head, knocking her unconscious.

"Weak, no wonder you lost to that weakling daughter of Ares," Ari said.

Thalia took the opportunity and sprinted towards Ari as her back was turned. Unfortunately, Ari spun around sidestepped Thalia's charge. As Thalia ran past her, Ari spun her sword and it turned into a Beretta 92 pistol. She fired a single shot into Thalia's shoulder and I watched in horror as she fell to the ground in pain. Thalia tried to get up, but Ari fired two more shots into Thalia's legs.

"Don't bother getting up," she said to Thalia. "I'd rather not kill you yet."

"Why not?" Thalia said through clenched teeth. "Just finish it already. " Ari laughed.

"Where's the fun it that?" she asked. "If I waned to just kill you and be done with it, you would all be dead right now."

"Fun, is this all just a game to you?" I asked. Ari glanced at me before walking over. She kneeled down so that we were at eye level.

"In a manner of speaking, yes, this is all a game, Ms. Chase," she said in a deathly serious tone. "You're all nothing but pawns in this game. Everything that has happened has all been means to an inevitable end, and me, I am the harbinger of that end."

"You're insane," I said. Ari smile only grew.

"Of course I am," she said. "But, then again, aren't we all?"

I didn't know how to respond to her words. I glanced at Thalia and saw fear in her eyes. She tried to rise again, but fell back down when her legs failed to support her. I looked at Artemis in her prison. She had been silent as she watched us get torn apart. I saw tears flowing down her face as she watched the events unfold helplessly.

"We'll, I suppose this is truly goodbye, Ms. Chase," Ari said. "It has been a disappointment meeting you." She spun her pistol and it transformed into a sword again. She raised it and it caught the last rays of the sun before it sank below the horizon. I closed my eyes as if began its downward arc. Just as I expected to feel the cold edge of the sword as it took my life from me, I heard the sound of metal striking metal close to my face. I opened my eyes to see a silvery blade barely a few centimeters from my face. It had stopped Ari's sword from killing.

"I think that's enough for one day," a familiar voice said above me. I looked up and saw the last person I expected to see. I found myself gazing into the sea green eyes of Percy Jackson.

* * *

A/N the story idea for this fic belongs to Anonemuss14. Please thank her for writing such an excellent story.


	11. Chaos

**Chapter Eleven: Chaos**

It took me several seconds to truly understand what I was watching. The hunters were engaged in a one-sided battle around the base of a large oak tree; and it was not going well for them. The only discernible enemy appeared to be another archer. She stood in the center of the hunters and fired arrows at those around her.

"Wait, those are the hunters," Zoë said in shock. "Percy, we have to help them." I glanced over at my friend and saw desperation on her face. They were once her family; it was understandable that she was worried about them.

"We will, Zoë, but charging in blindly won't save them," I said.

"Look at them, they're being slaughtered down there," she said frantically. Below, the hunter known as Phoebe had just been defeated.

"Look closer," I said. "None of the hunters have sustained fatal wounds. Whoever is attacking them, she must want them..." A gunshot down below drew my concentration. The girl who had been fighting the hunters now had a pistol and was aiming it right at...

"Thalia," I whispered. Two more shots rang out and Thalia cried out in pain. The girl seemed to say something to my old friend, but they were too far away for me to hear it. Then, the girl walked over to another injured hunter, one with blonde hair.

"Change of plans, follow my lead," I said to Zoë when the girl's gun transformed into a sword. Before she could answer, I disappeared into water vapor and reappeared there just in time to block a killing blow. Riptide's blade was mere centimeters from Annabeth's face. I had been cutting it close.

"I think that's enough for one day," I said to the girl. Her eyes widened in surprise. She stepped back and transformed her sword into a spear. I could feel Annabeth's eyes boring into me, and the torrent of questions she was holding back right now, but I couldn't afford to take my eyes off this girl. Something about her seemed vaguely familiar, but I couldn't tell what.

"Zoë, get the hunters to safety," I said when she arrived. "I'll handle this one."

"Good luck, Percy," she whispered and helped Annabeth off the ground. Many of the hunters had managed to stand up now, and the older ones were staring at Zoë in shock. She ignored their questions and convinced them to come with her. Within moments, the area was empty except for the girl, the trapped Artemis, and me.

"So, you are alive," the girl said. "I had my doubts that the Chimera had succeeded. But, I see that I was correct."

"Wait, you sent the Chimera to kill me?" I asked in confusion. The girl smiled.

"Not I, but my mother," she said. "I'm impressed that you not only managed to kill it, but survive the ordeal."

"Who is your mother?"

"Eris, goddess of chaos and the true ruler of this planet," she said.

"Really, you must be well trained to have defeated the hunters as you did," I commented.

"I am my mother's greatest creation," she said. "No being of this earth can kill me."

"Who are you exactly?" I asked when I realized that I didn't know. The girl looked at me oddly.

"Don't tell me that you've forgotten," she said. "After all, you're the reason I'm here." I tried to think of where I had met her before. I gazed into her silver eyes, and then it clicked.

"Ari?" I asked. "Is that really you?" I didn't understand how a little girl like the Ari I knew had become what she is now.

"It is, Perseus," she said. "You seem surprised. Why is that?" Her words dripped with sarcasm.

"The last I saw you, you were an innocent little girl who had lost her family," I told her. "What happened to you?"

"My eyes were opened, Perseus," she said enigmatically. "Shortly after you... disappeared, I had a dream. In the dream, my mother spoke to me. She told me who I was and gave me my purpose, my destiny."

"Let me guess, your mom is still angry about that party, right?" I guessed. "Now, she thinks she can finally destroy Olympus all together. Am I right?" Ari laughed at my explanation.

"Olympus is already consumed by conflict and chaos," she said when she had calmed down. "Even without my mother's aid, the Olympians would tear reach other apart over the smallest thing. No, Perseus, while Olympus is the eventual goal, it is not my mission to destroy it."

"And what is your mission?" I asked. Ari just smiled and shook her head.

"Ah, but that would be telling, Perseus," she said. "Regardless, this has gone on long enough. If you would be so kind..." She began to walk away, but I vapor traveled in front of her.

"You're not going anywhere," I said calmly, but on the inside I was tensing up for the inevitable fight. Ari narrowed her eyes at me.

"No being of this earth can kill me," she said menacingly.

"I am no longer of this earth," I stated. Ari gripped her spear so hard that her knuckles turned white, then she calmed down. She spun her spear and it became a sword in her hand.

"Vieni e conoscere la tua morte, Perseus," she said. In answer, I raised Riptide in preparation.

Ari made the first move. She sank into a shadow at her feet and reappeared behind me. I anticipated this and turned to block a stab at what was once my only weakness. Ari kept on the offensive and swung at my neck. Her blade whistled over my head as I ducked under the strike. I rolled to the side and pulled out a stiletto.

I had obtained the tiny knives and learned to use them in 15th century Italy. I always kept a few on me in case stealth was necessary.

Ari spun her sword and it transformed into a longer, heavier sword. The blade must have weighed a ton, but Ari wielded it with ease. She ran towards me and raised her massive sword in an overhand blow. I rolled to the side again as the ground was destroyed under Ari's attack. Faster than I thought possible, Ari pulled her sword from the crushed earth and spun it to transform it back into a normal sword.

I was impressed. I hadn't had a fight as difficult as this in two hundred years. I didn't know what manner of training she had undergone, but Ari was doing a good job of keeping me on the defensive.

I ran to her this time. My years of training kicked in and I found myself analyzing her. I noticed small details like the fact that she used her left hand to hold her weapon, or that she had lost her confident demeanor. Just before I reached her, I threw my stiletto to distract her. I didn't expect it to work, so I wasn't surprised when she caught the small knife right out of the air. Luckily, it allowed me to get close enough to strike. Her speed saved her. She raised her sword fast enough to stop my sword mere centimeters from her throat. It became a battle of strength with both of us trying to over power the other. Our swords sparked against each other as we both gained and lost ground.

"You do not disappoint, Perseus," she said through gritted teeth. I grimaced as I was forced to step back to steady myself.

"What are you?" I responded when she continued to match, or even beat my strength. Ari smiled cruelly and pushed me back further.

"I told you, I am my mother's greatest creation," she said. "I am the ultimate weapon against the lies and corruption of the world. My mother is coming, Perseus, and when she does, this world shall burn in the flames of chaos and be reborn under her rule."

"I won't let you," I said shakily and used all of my strength to push back against Ari's unimaginable strength. "You claim to serve chaos, well so do I, but of another kind." I chuckled bitterly at my pun.

"What does that mean?" she asked. "Chaos is chaos. There is no 'other kind' to serve."

"I serve Khaos, the greatest of all beings, master of creation, guardian of the innocent, bane of the guilty," I said. "Upon my oath, you shall not succeed." When I finished speaking, I let myself fall backward onto the cold ground. Ari, surprised by the missing resistance, fell forwards. I raised my legs and propelled her over me. She landed with surprising grace and quickly jumped to her feet. I rose as well and examined my opponent. She had lost most of her composure and seemed to be on the brink of losing it entirely.

In her anger, she charged forward and swung madly at my head. I leaned back as the sword sliced the air in front of me. I retaliated and Riptide struck at Ari like a snake. Though she managed to dodge at escape injury, Riptide managed to sever a single hair and she watched it slowly float to ground.

She backed away and began twirling her weapon rapidly as it transformed again and again. Swords, spears, maces, knives, and even guns from different time periods and civilizations appeared in her hand as she spun her weapon at ever increasing speeds.

"Give it up, Ari," I said. "You can't beat me. I've spent the last 500 years learning how to use and defeat all of those weapons. So, make your choice; it will all end the same way."

Ari's fury was boiling just under the surface now. Her grip on her weapon was so tight that her knuckles were white. Veins pulsed at her forehead and her silver eyes had darkened with rage.

"No one... can kill me," she said slowly through gritted teeth. "I. Am. CHAOS!" Ari's rage exploded and the formerly peaceful twilight transformed into a scene of destruction. The earth was shaking violently, the winds screamed across the plains at unimaginable speeds, lightning turned the night into day as thunder assaulted my ears, and at its center was Ari.

Her eyes had gone completely black as she released her power. She had risen into the air and now floated in the center of her own apocalypse. I stood in awe of her power, but that didn't stop me from trying to stop it. I called upon my own powers to try to quell the mayhem, but it was futile. If anything, the storm only became stronger.

I was forced to my knees by the wind and the shaking of the earth. I made one final effort to take control, and for a moment it appeared to work. But, the strain was too much and I had to sever the connection. I curled into a ball in hopes of avoiding further punishment.

Just as I thought the world was going to tear itself apart, it stopped. I looked up to see Ari standing on a field of charred earth. What had once been merely a small grassland in central New York was now a desert. I shakily got to my feet only to be thrown back by what felt like a thousand bullet trains hitting me at once. The pain was unimaginable; at least holding the sky and the River Styx had been painful to my entire body, but now the pain was centered in my lower abdomen. I tried to take a few shaky breaths before I began cough violently. It felt like I was tearing my throat apart, and the amount of blood that came from me might have proved it. I tried to rise again, but something stepped on my chest and pushed me back onto the unforgiving earth. I managed to open my eyes to see Ari towering over me, her eyes had returned to normal, but still contained all of the malevolent power as before.

"I could kill you right now," she said. "But, I won't. You aided me years ago, Perseus, so I shall spare you in honor of that time. But, be warned that I will kill you the next time you interfere." Ari removed her foot from my chest and the pain eased ever so slightly. She looked at me like someone would look at a deformed animal, with disgust and loathing. Without another word, she turned and walked away. I remain lying there until she was gone from sight for good.

I painfully got to my feet and limped over to Artemis. She has been silent for the duration of the fight and now stated blankly off in the direction Ari had gone.

"Lady Artemis," I rasped. Her focus snapped to me and I heard a sickening pop from her neck.

"We must go, the gods must be..." I coughed up blood. "...must be informed of what has happened." Artemis nodded numbly.

"Can you cut the net?" She asked. I nodded. I reached into my pocket and retrieved Riptide. Luckily, the threads were so thin, and Riptide was so sharp, that freeing Artemis required almost no effort on my part. Artemis stepped forward and placed her hand on my shoulder. Her hand glowed with silver light and my pain and weariness left me.

"That should suffice for now," she said. "Though, it would be better if Apollo looked you over. Healing is more his forte than mine." I bowed in gratitude.

"Thank you, Lady Artemis," I said. "It has done more than enough. I think we should go."

"You go to Olympus and I shall retrieve the hunters," she said with the same emotionless tone she had used for the entire conversation. She disappeared in a flash of silver.

I sighed as I mentally berated myself for my failure. This had been my first true test, and I had failed. I knew that I would have to speak to Chronus about this, but it would have to wait until after the situation was explained on Olympus. I disappeared in a cloud if vapor and reappeared in the lobby of the Empire State Building. I didn't even bother asking for the key as I stepped into the nearest elevator and hit the appropriate bottom. The elevator began to rise into the heavens, but my heart sank further with every millimeter.

* * *

A/N the story idea for this fic belongs to Anonemuss14. Please thank her for writing such an excellent story.


	12. Revelations

**Chapter Twelve: Revelations**

Olympus, I hadn't seen the city in nearly 500 years, but I have seen its echo spread across the West and even some of it in the East. Even after all this time, it still amazed me. Though not an overly massive city, it was by far more luxurious than most. I marveled at the architecture of the buildings and felt a small amount of pride at the work Annabeth had done.

Annabeth. Though I didn't want to admit it, I was worried about seeing her again. I had changed during my time away and the feelings I once had for her were no more. However, only a few years had passed for her and I didn't know how she felt about me, if her feelings remained the same or not.

I walked through the streets of Olympus, lost in my thoughts and oblivious to the stares of awe that followed me. The normally merry atmosphere seemed to be holding its breath as I made my way towards the main temple of the gods. When I arrived, I was surprised to find it already occupied. Hestia, eldest child of Kronos and Rhea, goddess of hearth and home, sat near the central fire pit and stared into the embers. Without speaking, I made my way towards the hearth and sat down beside her. Hestia didn't react at first. When she did speak, she didn't seem surprised to see me.

"I knew that you were alive," she said without looking up.

"How did you find out?" I asked. Hestia smiled and the embers changed to form the figure of a familiar god.

"My brother, Hades, and I have a very close bond, Perseus," she said. "Aside from being the eldest children of Kronos, neither of us are on the council and therefore find better company in each other than our siblings. He told me that you were alive."

"Yes, I have been alive for these last few years, but I've have some help in doing so," I said. Now, Hestia turned her gaze to me. Her eyes were orbs of fire that gave comfort and warmth instead of death and destruction.

"What manner of aid did you receive?" She asked. I gave her a knowing smile.

"I'd rather only explain myself once," I said. "Do you mind waiting for the other gods?" Hestia smiled softly and went back to staring at the fire.

"That is fine, Perseus," she said. "After all, it is your story to tell."

I was about to answer when another presence entered the room. I turned and watched as Artemis shimmered into existence with Zoë at her side. Zoë glanced at me with a worried expression. She knew what had happened, but she wanted to hear me say it. I barely shook my head, 'not yet' I said in our unspoken language. Zoë gave the slightest of nods.

"Where are the hunters?" I asked when I noticed their absence.

"They are at Camp Half-Blood tending to their wounds," she said. "They have many questions, Perseus."

"I don't doubt it," I said uneasily and ran a hand through my unruly hair. "And what of the gods?"

"They shall be arriving shortly," Artemis said as she walked towards her throne.

"What did you tell them?" I asked. Artemis grew to her godly height and sat on her throne before answering.

"Just that this meeting was of the utmost importance," she said. "Hermes was a bit annoyed by my reasoning, but didn't argue." Just as she finished, a lightning bolt crashed into the center of the throne room and left none other than Zeus, king of Olympus in its place.

"Artemis, what has happened?" He hadn't seen me yet. "Hermes wouldn't explain anything, and only said that you thought it was urgent."

"It is, uncle," I said. "I doubt that Olympus has ever faced a greater threat than this."

Zeus froze and slowly turned to face me. He shrunk down to mortal height and walked towards me with complete shock and disbelief written across his face. He placed a hand on my shoulder, as if to make sure I wasn't an illusion.

"P-Perseus, is that really you?" he asked. I smiled and gave a slight bow to the Lord of the skies.

"Yes, it is me," I said. "I'll explain everything, uncle, but only once the other gods arrive." Zeus composed himself and nodded.

"Of course, I've waited for ten years to learn the truth," he said. "A few more minutes won't kill me."

In reality, it was a little over two hours later that the Olympian Council and Hades were gathered in the throne room. Oddly enough, it was my father that was the last one to arrive. On the outside, he looked the same as he always did. But his eyes were so dull and lifeless that it nearly caused me to cry. Zoë put a comforting hand on my arm. I looked at her and saw a similar expression on her face. It occurred to me that Artemis seemed a bit off ever since I had "rescued" her from Ari. I grabbed Zoë hand and gave a reassuring squeeze. She returned the pressure as we returned our focus to the meeting of the gods. Zeus, Artemis, and Hestia had all agreed that it would be best that Zoë and me to remain hidden until the time was right. We stood in the shadows at the periphery of the chamber where none of the gathered Olympians saw us. None except for Hades that is; he glanced in our directions and gave a small nod when he confirmed that it was us.

"Some of you may be wondering why you have been brought here," Zeus said when the gods had settled down.

"Does it have to do with that girl again?" Mr. D asked in bored voice. "I thought that Artemis was going to handle that." Artemis glared at the god of wine. However, a stern glance from Zeus stopped her from responding.

"This is not the time, Dionysus," Zeus said to his son. "That girl managed to trap Artemis and defeat the hunters single-handedly. She is more than a rogue half-blood. Finding her must be made top priority."

"How did she manage to trap you exactly, Artemis?" Hephaestus asked.

"She used a net," Artemis said simply. While most of the gods looked at Artemis incredulously, Hephaestus and Athena looked to be in open shock.

"You don't mean..." the god of forges began to say. Artemis nodded at his unasked question.

"What's so important about this net?" Apollo asked. Athena rolled her eyes at his ignorance.

"The golden net, Apollo," she said. "The one used to trap Ares and Aphrodite once, and used again on our father." The gods and goddess mentioned looked angry and embarrassed at the mention of their incarcerations.

"Regardless, is it possible that she stole one from you, Hephaestus?" Zeus asked after recomposing herself. Hephaestus shook his head and began to drum his fingers nervously.

"I only ever made one, father, and I keep it under the highest protection so that something like this can be avoided," Hephaestus said. "The only way she could have is if she... but that's impossible... she couldn't have, could she?"

"What are you going on about?" Ares asked impatiently.

"He's saying that this girl somehow managed to make her own," Athena said. "Am I right?" Hephaestus nodded and patted out a flame that had sprung up on his beard.

"But, that's impossible," he said. "Nobody has the skill to create it. The best of my children couldn't make even a rough copy, let alone one strong enough to contain an Olympian."

"Wait, if she managed to trap you and defeat the hunters, how did you get free and warn us?" Athena asked. I was wondering when she would figure it out. Artemis exchanged a glance with her father. Zeus nodded.

They both turned in my direction and I took that as my queue. Zoë squeezed my hand one last time before I went.

"I rescued her," I said as I stepped from the shadows. Many of the gods stared at me in shock. Those closest even leapt from their thrones and ran to the other side of the room. My father just stared blankly at me, as if he didn't know how to react to my arrival.

"Before any of you ask, yes, it really is Perseus," Zeus said. "He has away for a little while, but now he has returned." Zeus nodded to me again, and I returned it.

"I take it that you're all a bit surprised to see me," I said nonchalantly.

"Just a bit," Hermes said. "Well, Artemis, I think I see why you were so urgent about us getting here." Hermes seemed to have gotten over his surprise pretty quickly and smiled at me before going back to his cell phone.

"You've been alive this whole time?" Apollo asked. "Where have you been?"

"I'll tell you, but it will be abridged as we're short on time as it is," I said. The council gave me unanimous consent to continue; even Ares, though he looked a bit angry that I was back.

"Roughly ten years have passed for you, but it has been much longer for me," I began. "452 years, 7 months, 5 days, 18 hours, and 3 minutes to be exact. I have spent that time training so that I could defeat the evil I now know to be Ari."

"How is it that you survived that long?" Athena asked. "Have you gained immortality somehow?"

"No, I retain my mortality," I said. "It is the price I pay so that I might carry out my master's will; and before you ask, my master is Khaos."

"Impossible, Khaos died millennia ago," Athena said quickly. I glared at the goddess of wisdom.

"I did not come here to debate this with you, Athena," I said with forced steadiness. "I would advise you to not insult my master again. The results would be bad for everyone."

"Please continue, Perseus," Zeus said. "There will be no more interruptions." Zeus glanced at Athena who tried to sink into her throne and not be noticed. She obviously wasn't used to being the subject of her father's ire.

"To continue, I was recently sent here to stop Ari before she could begin her plans. Unfortunately, things did not go as planned. She turned out to be much stronger than anticipated."

"How strong exactly?" Zeus asked.

"It was unlike anything I had ever seen before," Artemis said. "Surely you felt it, father. Typhon himself couldn't create such destructive force."

"That's impossible," Ares growled. "No puny half-blood can be that powerful. It has to be a fluke."

"Shut up, Ares," I said. "Don't speak about that which you don't understand." Ares' slowly turned to me and I could almost feel the anger rolling off of him.

"What do you know, punk?" he shouted. "You've been hiding for the past decade, and then you get your ass kicked by a girl once you do decide to show your sorry face. You think you're some tough guy just because you claim to work for Khaos? Well, let me tell you something, you're nothing. You were pathetic ten years ago, and you're pathetic now."

Throughout his rant I managed keep up a facade of nonchalance. Although I didn't overly care about Ares or his words, they had made an impact. Ari had beaten me when it was my duty to defeat her.

"I did not come here to argue with you Ares," I said in an icy tone. "The simple fact is that Ari was able to defeat me. A single battle does not decide the fate of a war. You, of all people, should understand this."

Ares was literally seething now. Smoke could be seen drifting upward from underneath his shades. He was gripping the armrests of his throne so tightly that they cracked. I was impressed by his restraint, truth be told. I fully expected for him to fly into a rage and attack me.

"Ares, enough," Zeus said. "Now is not the time to be fighting one another."

"Finally some sense," Dionysus mumbled. Ares spun to him.

"What was the, you old drunk!" he shouted. Dionysus rolled his eyes and materialized a wine magazine in his hand. Ares almost got out of his throne, but my father stopped him.

"Sit down," he said with his trident leveled at Ares' head. Ares looked between his brother and uncle before slowly sinking back into his throne.

"We've gotten off topic," I said. "Right now, we must decide what we are to do about Ari. Does anyone have any idea what her plans might be?" I addressed the gods in general, but I looked at Athena for an answer. She and the most of the council were in deep thought for several minutes before she asked me a question.

"Which way did she flee?" she asked.

"West," I answered. This seemed to worry Athena. She turned to Zeus and the two Olympians seemed to have a conversation with their eyes. Soon, the entire council was having a massive staring contest; except for one.

"West? Is she going to the other place then?" Ares asked. The other gods glared at him for his lack of subtlety. I chuckled at their secrecy.

"It's alright, I know about Camp Jupiter," I said. Athena looked like she was going to asked me a question, but didn't.

"Just as well, I suppose," she said. "But, yes, that is the most likely place she will go."

"Why would she go there?" Dionysus asked. "Greeks aren't exactly welcomed there; and even she can't be powerful enough to take out the entire legion, right?"

"I wouldn't put it past her," I said. "Whatever her intentions, I'll put an end to it before it can get worse."

"Is that so?" a voice said. Everyone turned to the doorway as a pillar of sand formed and disappeared. Chronus stood there as an old man once the sand had dissipated.

"Master," I said.

"Master?" Athena asked. "This is Khaos?" Chronus glanced at the Olympians for a moment before staring at me again with his unwavering gaze.

"You're not going to chase after her, Perseus," Chronus said with finality.

"I can't simply let her go," I replied. "After all, isn't this what I've been preparing for? I can't let all of my training go to waste."

Chronus shook his head slowly and sighed.

"You misunderstand, Perseus," the god of time said. "You'll have your chance to fight her again, but not yet. For now, we must even the playing field, so to speak."

I wasn't sure what he was implying, but I knew he would explain.

"What does that entail?" I asked. Chronus glanced at the gathered Olympians before answering.

"Come, we must go and complete your training," he said enigmatically.

The vortex of sand began to rise around him and I looked over my shoulder at where Zoë was hidden in the shadows. She gave me a brief nod and I quickly walked to Chronus' side and we were transported back to his realm.

"What is there left for me to learn, master?" I asked. Chronus looked uneasy. He crossed his arms and scowled at the ground for several seconds before answering.

"Not so much learn as have everything forced into you," he said. "Do you know why Ari defeated you, Perseus?"

I thought back to the battle. Ari was a very skilled warrior, but I had eventually been able to defeat her. She defeated me when she…

"Her power," I guessed. "It was… overwhelming." Chronus nodded solemnly and looked up at the sky.

"Yes, I would imagine that it is," he mused. "Considering her family and everything. I'm impressed she's alive with all of that power stored away inside of her. It would kill any lesser mortal."

"Where does it come from?" I asked. "It can't come from her mother, could it? Eris doesn't have that the abilities to control nature like that."

"Well, Ari's abilities do come from her mother, indirectly," he said. "What is it that she said? Her mother's greatest creation, was it? That is actually quite accurate. You are familiar with what a legacy is, yes?"

I nodded.

"A descendant of a god," I answered. "Are you saying that Ari has those powers from an ancestor?"

"Not just one, but many," Chronus said. "You see, Eris has been 'creating' Ari for a very long time. It began thousands of years ago with a son of Athena. Solomon, I believe his name was. Eris chose him and his bloodline to be the bearer of Eris' weapon against the world. She watched over Solomon's children and, after a few generations, gifted a daughter with stunning beauty. This beauty drew the eye of Zeus, who would become the father of the next link in the chain. The next link would be Ares, then Hades, then Poseidon, and so on and so forth for thousands of years. After each new link was added, all previous links would become considerably stronger. As a result, the powers she inherited from Athena and Zeus are her strongest. Ares even made a second appearance as Mars and would be Ari's only link to Roman blood. This resulted in her unnatural skill in combat, as you've witnessed."

"If this is the case, then why haven't the gods noticed anything sooner?" I asked. "Shouldn't some of her ancestors have had this power and attracted some attention."

"No, Eris has been very careful," Chronus said. "She only allowed each generation to have a single child so at to reduce chances of discovery. She also subdued the powers of all previous bearers until she thought it was time."

"How am I to compete with this, master?" I asked calmly, but I was beginning to feel despair settle around my heart. Chronus put a comforting hand on my shoulder.

"All is not lost, Perseus," he said kindly. "You are Khaos' tool for ridding the world of Eris' evil. If it is anyone's fault for your defeat, it is mine. I sent you to fight a battle I knew that you couldn't win. Now, you will finish your training and fulfill your mission of defeating Ari."

I smiled at my master. He wasn't the most encouraging of people at most times, but he had his moments.

"What am I to do?" Chronus tried to smile, but it came out as a grimace.

"Time is running short, Perseus," he said grimly. "You must go to the creator now."

My eyes widened and I was immobilized by surprise.

"Khaos, I will finally meet the creator?" I could hardly believe that the time had finally come.

"Don't be so eager," Chronus warned. "Precautions have not been taken, and there is a chance that you will be lost forever," he said.

"Desperate times, master," I said. Chronus smiled softly before it was replaced by a frown again.

"And these are indeed desperate measures," he replied. "Before you go, know that you need not do this. If Ari succeeds, and Eris consumes the world in chaos, what was destroyed can be rebuilt. We can take the time to properly prepare you for this, and then send you to the creator. Our survival does not depend on the survival of the world."

I thought about his words. True, I had witnessed the rise and fall of many things over the years, yet life went on. But, I also knew that the world wouldn't recover from what was coming. I heard Ari's words in my head. _'My mother is coming, Perseus, and when she does, this world shall burn in the flames of chaos and be reborn under her rule.'_ Chronus was right; I could abandon everyone on earth and save myself. But, I also knew that I couldn't.

"No, you told me that I must be the hero this world needs," I reminded my master. "Even if I die, I'll die trying to defend it from Ari and her mother." Chronus' expression didn't change, but I could see a light of approval in his golden eyes.

"Very well then, are you ready to go to Khaos?" he asked. I took a deep breath and nodded.

"Good luck, Perseus," Chronus said before the world faded into black.

* * *

A/N the story idea for this fic belongs to Anonemuss14. Please thank her for writing such an excellent story.


	13. Calma prima tempesta

**Chapter Thirteen: Calma prima tempesta**

Zoë's POV

When I saw the vortex of sand appear, I knew that things were very bad. I knew the primordial god well enough that Chronus would only appear in front of the council if it were absolutely necessary. He didn't seem to acknowledge the other gods very much, going so far as to ignore Athena's questions. I didn't pay much attention to the words exchanged; I knew that Percy would have to leave for now. Sure enough, he glanced over his shoulder at me when Chronus began to leave. I nodded that it was okay and Percy, after the slightest hesitation, entered the vortex of sand and disappeared. 'Be safe,' I prayed. I had seen that look on Chronus' face enough times to know that things were going to get worse.

Back to reality, the council was in an uproar. Nearly every god and goddess was shouting and trying to be heard as they all said the same things. A few, like Zeus and Artemis tried to gain order, but only succeeded in adding to the overall confusion. Poseidon alone sat silently in his throne, deep in thought.

"It's a shame, isn't it?" a voice said. I turned and saw Hestia sitting beside me. I gave her a slight bow before answering.

"I suppose, but Olympus has always been this way," I said. "Even in the most dire of circumstances, the gods can find something to argue about."

Hestia smiled softly before becoming serious. The fire from the hearth dimmed a bit and the temperature dipped slightly.

"Is something the matter, Lady Hestia?" I asked. The goddess frowned and the fires in her eyes seemed to flit about restlessly.

"I am worried, worried about my family," she said. "Eris has only ever been a bane upon this world, but there was little we could do about her. Some believe the Titans, the Gigantes, or even Typhon to be our greatest enemy. But, Eris is worse than them. It is because of her that we are what we are now."

Her words surprised me, to say the least. "What do you mean," I asked. "Surely Eris could not be that terrible."

Hestia expression became grim. "I wish she wasn't," she said sadly. "Eris is the embodiment of chaos and destruction. We have always harboured a resentment and fear towards her, but we went to great lengths to appease her. Unfortunately, our mistake came in the simplest of forms. "

"Thetis' wedding," I guessed.

Hestia nodded slowly. "In her indignation, she nearly broke apart Olympus. She didn't even have to lift a finger. For ten years, she had us fight each other in a war we forced mortals to partake in. Brothers fought brothers, and Olympus hasn't seen darker days since. What's worse, her actions resulted in the eventual founding of the Roman Empire, yet another weakness of ours."

"Rome was hardly weak," I pointed out.

Hestia shrugged. "Perhaps, but do you know what the transition from Greece to Rome resulted in?" I shook my head. "Our personalities were split down the middle. I was no longer just Hestia, but Vesta as well."

Hestia's appearance slightly until she sat before me in her Roman form. Though her eyes still glowed with warmth and comfort, there was something else in them now. She seemed less like a gentle mother and more like a stern guardian who wouldn't hesitate to deal out punishment when necessary. After a moment, Vesta returned to her Greek form.

"You see, many think us to be the same, but we are very different," Hestia expla \ined. "These differences have nearly torn us apart throughout history. When our children, the Greeks and the Roman would fight, we would be caught between both and unable to choose."

"So, that is why you separated the two camps then?" I asked. "To protect yourselves and not necessarily to keep the demigods from killing each other."

Hestia bowed her head in what might have been shame. "I do not deny that that was a motive, but we were thinking of the half-bloods when the decision was made," she explained.

"I'm sorry for saying that, it was uncalled for," I apologized.

Hestia smiled softly at me. "Don't worry about it," she said. "But, back to the topic at hand; Eris has been very clever. Her children, though few and far in between, have been responsible for many of the greatest calamities in history. On June 28, 1914, a Serbian son of hers, Gavrilo Princip, killed an Austrian Archduke and his wife. This resulted in the First World War. Again, her son, Benito Mussolini, began the world on the road to the Second World War when he created the facist party in Italy. Drawing the attention of Hades' son, the esteemed Führer of Germany, he deeply influenced his decisions and drove him to war. Both of these times and so many more, Eris has had a hand in it all."

I was amazed at how much strife Eris had caused. I knew that she was bitter towards Olympus and had caused some trouble, but I never knew it was this bad.

"Wow, I never knew about any of that," I admitted.

"Yes, Eris has always been our greatest enemy," Hestia said. "Now there is this daughter of hers that can imprison Artemis and defeat her hunters like they're nothing… it scares me. It truly does."

I hadn't gotten to known the goddess of the hearth that well in the many times I had been in her presence, but I knew well enough that it took a lot to shake her. "What do we do?" I asked.

Hestia stared forward without seeing anything as the other gods continued to argue and bicker amongst themselves. "I do not know, Zoë," she said sadly. "I do not know."

* * *

Percy's POV

Darkness. Darkness is all that surrounded me. Or perhaps I simply had my eyes closed, I wasn't sure. Where was I? What was I doing here? Who was I? What was my name? All these questions and more swirled around in never ending circles in my mind. My head hurt, but I didn't know why. I wanted to touch it, but I couldn't move my arm. I couldn't feel my arm. Was I supposed to be here? What was I doing here? Where was here?

I didn't remember what happened to me. Had I died? Was this limbo or something? I felt like I wanted to scream, but I couldn't make a noise. I wanted to struggle, but I didn't have a body to move. I began to feel scared as the nothingness around me began to close in around, suffocate me.

I tried to breathe with lungs I didn't possess. If I was dead, how did I feel fear? I wanted to open my eyes, see anything besides this oppressive darkness. This nothingness. It might have been a few seconds, or eons, but I didn't know. I wanted to do something, anything. But, I could do nothing, because I was like all that surrounded me… nothing.

"Perseus," that single word tore across my whole non-existence and bathed everything in a bright, magnificent light. It seemed to speak in a whisper, but also seemed impossibly loud. The nothingness became consumed by that voice and the presence it heralded. In an instant, I remembered everything. My name was Perseus Jackson, and I was here to speak with…

"Khaos," I replied, though I didn't have a mouth to speak. "Are you Khaos?"

"I am," the voice spoke from around me. It seemed neither male, nor female, nor human, nor machine. It contained no emotion, but raw power filled the space around me. It came from everywhere at once and I felt incredibly small in comparison to my master.

"Khaos, I need your help," I said.

"I know," Khaos said.

"Will you help me?" I asked when Khaos didn't elaborate.

"Perhaps," Khaos said.

"I need to defeat, Ari," I explained. "But, I cannot do so alone."

"Will you help me?" I repeated when Khaos remained silent.

"Perhaps," Khaos said for the second time

"Please, I need you help?" I begged.

"Why?" Khaos asked.

I knew that I shouldn't be mad with Khaos, but this wasn't going as planned. "Ari is too powerful," I said. "I am too weak to defeat her."

"Power," Khaos said simply. Then, my consciousness was overloaded by a wave of pure, unrelenting power. My mind ceased to work; it registering only pain across levels I never imagined possible. I didn't know how I could endure such a force as this, but I was forced to for what felt like eternity. Finally, the energy stopped.

"You have tasted the true power of Khaos and passed through unharmed," Khaos said. "Is this what she used to defeat you?"

"No," I admitted. "It was nothing compared to that."

"Then what have you to fear?" Khaos asked.

"Nothing, but she is still very powerful," I said. "I do not know if I can best her."

"You can," Khaos said.

"I can defeat Ari?" I asked.

"Perhaps," Khaos said for the third time. "That is yet to be seen."

"You do not know?" I asked incredulously. I couldn't be sure, but it seemed like a feeling of amusement spread across everything for a moment.

"Go, Perseus," Khaos said. "Bring Order to the Chaos."

With Khaos' words, the plane of existence I didn't existed in seemed to dissolve around me. I had the sensation of being burned intensely before a freezing sensation spread across me. Finally, I opened my eyes to see Chronus in front of me. All strength left my body and I almost collapsed. Fortunately, Chronus caught me before I hit the ground.

"What happened?" he asked. "Did Khaos lend you aid?"

I took a moment and sucked air greedily into my screaming lungs. "I… I'm not sure," I said painfully. "Khaos said that I was ready, but I don't feel any stronger."

Chronus seemed relieved regardless. "Well, Khaos works in mysterious ways. Perhaps he has given you a strength that will only become evident when you face Ari."

"Perhaps," I said and instantly thought of Khaos. "I… I need to lie down for now. I'm really tired."

Chronus nodded sympathetically. "Of course, Perseus," he said. "Just rest for a little bit."

I made my way to my cabin with Chronus' aid and laid down on my bunk. I fell into a dreamless sleep almost immediately.

* * *

3rd Person POV

Octavian sat in the temple of Jupiter, as usual, and sacrificed countless stuffed animals in an attempt to discern the will of Olympus. With every failed reading, his frustration grew and his concentration shrank.

'Why do you abandon me?' he thought desperately. 'I only want what is best for Rome. But I need your guidance.'

"Octavian," a voice called. Octavian turned and anger welled up on him and when he saw Reyna standing in the entrance of the temple. Despite his true feelings for the praetor, the augur gave an exaggerated bow to his superior and put a relaxed expression on his face.

"Yes, my praetor, to what do I owe the honor of this visit?" he asked.

Reyna glared at him, unimpressed by his display of loyalty and respect. "Jason and I have begun to notice things," she said. "Things that would destroy the reputation of the individual responsible if anyone were to find out. I believe you know what these things are, Octavian."

On the inside, Octavian was screaming in rage at Reyna's obvious blackmail. But, he maintained his facade of camp collectiveness on the outside.

"I'm afraid that I don't know what these 'things' are, my praetor," he said calmly. "But, I urge you to tread carefully. You seem to be walking a dangerous path, and I would hate it if something were to happen to you or Jason."

Reyna narrowed her eyes at the auger. She very much hated that silver tongue of his. Only her and Jason's combined leadership was enough to overpower it.

"Indeed, have a good night, Octavian," Reyna said before turning and leaving the temple.

Once she was out of earshot, Octavian furiously slaughtered the rest of his stuffed animals to relieve the anger he felt.

"Damn you, Reyna," Octavian hissed as he gripped his knife so tightly that his knuckles turned white. "You seek to lead Rome town a path towards suffering and destruction. I would see its glory restored, but I cannot so long as you and Jason are praetors."

"Perhaps we can fix that then," a feminine voice spoke.

Octavian spun around quickly in surprise and confusion. It had sounded like some one had spoken to him, but no one was there. "Is someone there?" he asked.

"In a way," the voice said.

Octavian was less than satisfied with th is answer. "Who are you?" he asked with decreasing amounts of patience.

The voice laughed at his annoyance, only adding to Octavian's anger. "For the sake of formalities, you may call me Chaos," the voice said.

"Very well, Chaos, what do you want?" Octavian asked.

"I merely wish to aid you in your goal, augur," Chaos said. "Restore the glory of Rome, crush your enemies, kill Reyna and Jason, those kinds of things."

Octavian was caught off guard by the directness of Chaos' offer. Intrigued, but surprised. "Really, and how exactly would you go about doing this?" Octavian asked to humour this mysterious ally.

More laughter. "Simple, destroy the Greeks," Chaos said bluntly.

This was not what Octavian was expecting. True, he had long suspected the existence of Greek demigods, but he had never considered them worth worrying about. "What are you talking about?" he asked. "The Greeks exist?"

"Of course they do," Chaos answered. "You were right about their existence, and you were right about their intentions."

"Intentions? They truly mean to usurp the power of Rome?" Octavian asked in part amazement and part fear.

"Yes, they're on their way here right now in fact," Chaos said. "They'll arrive at the Wolf House in two days."

So close, this was bad. "What are we to do?" Octavian asked. "Is it possible to defeat them? What are their numbers?"

Chaos laughed and the sound echoed across the domed ceiling of the temple. "Calm yourself, augur," she said. "I have a plan that will destroy the Greeks and grant you undisputed leadership of Camp Jupiter. You will restore the glory of Rome, destroy your ancient enemies, and claim the title of praetor for yourself. Who knows, perhaps you might even be crowned emperor."

Emperor, Octavian liked the idea of that very much. A small part of his mind called for caution, but a larger part, the part that had struggled and clawed its way into a position of power, saw this as the message he had been waiting for. This deal was too good to pass up.

"What must I do?" he asked.

From the shadows of the temple, Arianna Veil smiled in triumph. She had Octavian right where she wanted him

"This is what you must do," she began. "Go to your praetors, tell them that they must go to the Wolf House immediately. Send them with those most loyal to them. When they arrive, they will be greeted by a Greek war party. As powerful as your superiors may be, they won't stand a chance. However, you will realize that you've even deceived and rush to your comrades' aid. You won't arrive in time to save them, but you will avenge them. With Roman blood spilled upon Roman soil, your people will call for war. You shall grant them what they want."

With every word, Octavian became even more enraptured by Chaos' words. It all seemed so perfect. How could he say no?

"I'll do it," he said excitedly. "Those fools will finally get what's coming to them. Rome will be the center of the wold once again!"

Without warning, Octavian rushed out of the temple to set the plans into motion. Arianna's smile widened as everything went precisely as planned. She disappeared into a shadow to await the main show.

* * *

A/N the story idea for this fic belongs to Anonemuss14. Please thank her for writing such an excellent story.


	14. The Curtain Rises

**Chapter Fourteen: The Curtain Rises**

It had been nearly two days since the war party had left Camp Half-Blood with one goal in mind: find and kill Arianna Veil. They had taken a relatively straightforward path through the county, splitting into many smaller groups to avoid drawing unwanted attention to themselves. So far, they had made good progress with the only delay being a sudden storm on the first day.

Although many of the older campers were among those present, the unofficial leader was Shawn. Aside from being one of the best swordsmen at camp, he was a loyal friend and a born leader. Right now, he walked at the head of his group alongside his friend, James.

"So, what's the plan for when we actually catch her?" James asked his friend.

Shawn scowled and continued looking forward. "We send her to Tartarus in as many tiny pieces as possible," he said angrily.

James looked at the son of Nike warily. He too felt angry and vengeful, but he had also never seen Shawn this angry before. It was such a drastic change from the normally kind and easygoing guy.

"Damn right we will," Nathan said. "We'll show that bitch what happens when you cross the wrong people."

Nathan was a son of Ares whose strength was matched only by his brutality in combat. His friendship and loyalty was hard to win over, but Shawn was one of the few that had it. The other had been Clarisse.

"I don't know," James said hesitantly. "Ari was a really good fighter at camp. She beat you that one time, remember?"

Shawn waved his hand dismissively. "Maybe, but there's no way she can take all of us on at once," he said flatly. "Once we find her, she. Will. Pay."

James sighed and continued walking. His friend didn't become angry often, but he was a person to avoid when he was.

They continued walking for several hours before making "camp" at a small inn. It was a small, run-down establishment that lacked the hospitality for anything other than parasites and other filth to actually live there. Still, it was better than the wilderness. In the case of a monster attack, they at least had some form of cover. Shawn was walking back to his room with James. They had just come from a meeting between the other leaders of the war party.

"So, why California?" James asked. They had reason to believe that Ari was on her way west towards California. "She has the whole world in front of her, and she goes there of all places. Seems a bit odd, don't you think?"

Shawn shrugged. "If she chooses for her grave to be there, then let it be," he said bitterly.

James stopped walking and grabbed his friend's shoulders. "Hey, cut that out, man," he said forcefully. "I want Ari dead as much as the next guy, but I'm not too eager to just run off in blind rage."

Shawn shook off his friend's hand. "I told you, we can handle her," he snapped.

James glared at his friend. "And what if we can't?" he asked. "Have you thought of that, Shawn? What will happen if she manages to actually defeat us? What will stop her from destroying the camp, or even the whole damn world?"

Shawn returned the glare and met every harsh word unflinchingly. "She won't," he said flatly before turning and walking to his room.

James stared after his friend and wished he could take back his words. Shawn was already under enough stress without his best friend turning on him. Perhaps he should apologize, but later. He'll do it once Shawn had cooled down a bit. Later.

* * *

Olympus was in a state of disarray. As the city was affected by the state of its rulers, it mirrored the chaos going on within the Throne Room, albeit with less lightning bolts.

"SILENCE!" Zeus' voice boomed as he shot his master bolt into the air several times. Steadily, a relative order returned to the council, but it continued to bubble underneath the surface.

"Now, let us return to the matter at hand," he said with a glare at the assembled gods and goddesses. "The demigod, Arianna Veil, has fled Camp Half-Blood and is on her way to Camp Jupiter. If she were to arrive at her destination, there's no telling what manner of havoc she could wreak. What are we to do?" The King of Olympus directed this last question towards his daughter, Athena.

The goddess of wisdom looked at the ground in deep thought before answering. "Well, plainly put, there isn't much we can do," she said. "With the Ancient Laws in place, we cannot intervene unless our presence is absolutely necessary."

"So, that's what the half-bloods are for," Ares said. "Just send a few of them after the little bitch and let us be done with it."

Everyone glared at the god of war more because of his stupidity than anything else. "Have you lost your mind?" Artemis asked her half-brother. "To do so would cause more harm than good. To bring the camps together would incite a war that we cannot afford right now."

The god of war simply grinned madly at the mention of war and violence. "So, what's the problem then?" he asked. The rest of the council looked ready to kill Ares.

"Ares' lack of good judgment aside, we've been left with little choice in the matter," Dionysus interjected. All eyes snapped to him.

"What do you mean?" Athena asked.

Inwardly, the god of wine smirked at possessing information that his know-it-all older sister didn't possess. "Well, a group of about 40 half-bloods have already left the camp in pursuit of our favorite daughter of Eris," he said in a bored tone.

At this new development, all the gods began to mumble frantically between themselves; even Apollo and Hermes were involved in the discussion.

Zeus looked between all the immortals before him. He exchanged a glance with Artemis, the only one besides Poseidon who hadn't lost all reason. Raising his bolt once again, he shot a blast of lightning into the sky. All eyes turned to him.

"Enough, this is getting us nowhere," he said. "Athena, what are our options?"

Athena once again looked at the ground, but now it was from embarrassment. "Wait and watch," she mumbled.

At first, Zeus thought he had misheard her. "What?" he asked in a shocked voice.

Athena turned her stormy grey eyes to meet those of her father. "There is nothing for us to do, father," she said. "Whether by brilliant planning or dumb luck, the daughter of chaos has trapped us in a position in which we cannot act."

"Not true," Artemis said. For the nth time, eleven pairs of eyes turned as one to focus on a new speaker. "We might not be able to act, but my hunters might be able to do something. Dionysus, how close are the half-bloods to Camp Jupiter?"

The god of wine shrugged, but it was more from actual lack of knowledge than drunken disregard. "A couple of days, maybe less," he said.

Artemis nodded. "That should be enough time," she said. "If my hunters leave now, they shall be able to intercept the others before they encounter the Romans."

The other Olympians nodded their heads in agreement with the plan. It wasn't foolproof by any means, but it was an actual plan.

"Good, I'll trust you to see that through, daughter," Zeus said. "Unless anyone else has a plan, this council is adjourned.

The gathered immortals began to leave, but a new presence made them stay. "I have something to add," the new presence said as the shadows grew and the temperature dropped.

"Hades, what a pleasant surprise," Hestia said from the hearth. "What brings you here, brother?" She alone among council seemed unaffected by the lord of the Underworld's last minute arrival.

Hades glanced down at his sister and was a bit surprised to see someone he thought to be dead sitting beside her. Zoë Nightshade met his gaze evenly and without blinking. Hades shook his head softly, one step at a time.

"I merely wish to warn you, Artemis, that Ari is very dangerous," he said.

Artemis glared at her uncle. "I'm only too familiar with her abilities, uncle," she said.

Hades shook his head softly. "What you saw, was only a drop in the ocean," he said. "You have no idea the limits of her power. Which is why I shall be sending my son to aid in any way he can."

From the shadows beside his father, Nico di'Angelo stepped forth and nodded to the council. Artemis, who knew about his incident the night before, looked with surprise at his left arm. The sleeve of his jacket was pulled down to cover it, and he wore a thick glove on that hand, but there was obviously something there.

Zeus looked at the son of Hades with forced bemusement. "How exactly is this boy supposed to aid us?" he asked.

Hades glared at his brother. "Just you watch, even without your precious camp, Nico has become one of the most skilled warriors I've ever seen; and I've seen plenty."

Zeus slightly raised his hands in surrender. "I didn't mean to offend, brother," he said. "It's just that… nevermind."

Hades glared at his younger brother once more before turning his dark gaze to Artemis. "By all means, send your hunters to retrieve the half-bloods," he said. "But, do no more than that. Should you encounter Arianna, flee with as much haste as possible. I would be disappointed if the population of hunters in the Underworld suddenly increased."

Artemis looked like she wanted to respond, but simply nodded instead. Hades returned the nod, bowed mockingly to his brother, bowed legitimately to Hestia, and disappeared into shadows. Nico quickly followed suit.

* * *

At Camp Half-Blood, Artemis appeared in the infirmary in a flash of light. Most of the hunters that were awake jumped up and crowded around her. Annabeth forced herself to the front.

"My Lady, what's going on?" she asked desperately. "What happened to Percy?"

Artemis merely raised her hands for silence. "Calm down, all of you," she commanded. "We're pressed for time. We need to be on the other side of the country as soon as possible. How many of you are able to travel?"

Taken aback by the suddenness of Artemis' demands, the hunters were slow to answer.

"Well, Phoebe, myself, and maybe a couple of others can do it," Annabeth said uncertainly. "But, what's this all about? Has something happened?"

"Come, I'll explain on the way," Artemis said as she grabbed the daughter of Athena and practically dragged her out of the infirmary, five relatively uninjured hunters hurried after them. "As I'm sure you're aware, a group of half-bloods has left camp in pursuit of Arianna. We can't allow them to find her."

"Of course, Ari would slaughter them," Annabeth said as she regained her footing and tried to keep pace with the goddess.

Artemis spared a backwards glance at her. "It's more than that," she said enigmatically. "At the moment, I cannot divulge further information, but you must find the half-bloods and stop them, by any means necessary."

"Stop them from what exactly, Lady Artemis?" Phoebe asked.

"You, of all people, should know, Phoebe," Artemis said.

Phoebe looked confused for a moment before realization spread across her face, realization, and horror.

"No… that girl can't be that crazy, can she?" She asked in disbelief.

"What do you mean?" Annabeth asked. She hated not knowing something. "What is Ari doing?"

"Not now, Annabeth," Artemis said as they crossed the camp border. Zoë stood at the bottom of the hill, waiting for them. Artemis led the hunters down to her and told them to hold hands.

"I'm sending you to where you need to go," the goddess said. "Zoë, Phoebe, you know what is at stake. You must succeed; may fortune guide you."

Zoë bowed her head to her former mistress. "Don't worry, Lady Artemis, we won't fail you," she said as they were enveloped in a silvery light. When the light dimmed and disappeared, Artemis stood alone at the bottom of the hill.

* * *

"We're close, I can feel it," Shawn muttered darkly. James rolled his eyes at the melodrama.

"How close exactly?" he asked sarcastically.

Shawn didn't even glance over at his friend. "Very close," he responded.

James frowned into the night. They had been "close" for hours now. Almost since they had passed into California earlier in the day. For the entire time, Shawn had been steering them in a straight line towards San Francisco. He said that it just seemed like the right way to go, but James suspected that there was something else going on. Somewhat against his better judgment, he held his tongue and continued to let Shawn lead them further into unknown territory.

"You know, I expected California to be… different," James said after another hour of silence.

"I didn't know, actually," Shawn responded. "What were you expecting?"

James shrugged lamely. "I don't know, but not this," he responded. "From what all the veterans say, I pictured a monster-infested wasteland, or something like that. But, I'm almost at ease here."

"Almost?" Shawn asked.

James frowned before responding. "Just knowing that she's out there somewhere, either close by or continents away, it's unsettling," he said solemnly.

Shawn nodded in agreement. "I understand completely, but it's like I've been telling you this whole time: we can handle her," he said.

James looked at his friend uneasily, but didn't argue this time. "I pray to the gods that you're right."

The silence returned along with the uneasiness. Apprehension hung in the air and could be seen in the eyes of the half-bloods. Despite their previous bravado, they were beginning to realize that a mistake had been made on their part.

"I saw something," a scout said some time later. The young child of Hermes was one of those designated to run ahead of the main group and report back any dangers.

"What is it, report," Shawn commanded.

"Some kind of ruins, like a burned out house," the boy said. "I didn't think much of it, until I saw that people were in there."

"What people, how many?" Shawn asked.

The Hermes kid held up a golden helmet. "I don't know who they were, but there were twelve of them and they had a lot more than this with them," he said.

Shawn took the helmet and turned it over several times in his hands, inspecting it. "It looks to be a Roman Legionnaire's helmet," he said. "But, that doesn't make any sense. Did they all have something like this?"

The scout nodded. "Pretty much," he said. "What do we do?"

Shawn didn't respond at first, his eyes glued to the gleaming helmet. "Get everyone ready to move out," he said softly.

James reeled back in surprise. "What! Are you actually thinking of going to those people?" he asked incredulously.

Shawn turned and glared at him. If James hadn't been more focused on his words, he might have noticed the glazed look in Shawn's eyes. "That's an order, James," Shawn said flatly. "We're moving in on these people. If they attack first, then we'll fight back. Otherwise, we'll just get some information from them."

"What information could they possibly have?" James nearly shouted. "I don't know who or what these… these Romans are, but I highly doubt that they know anything we need to know."

Shawn didn't respond or even acknowledge his words. "Come on, we're moving out," he said flatly.

James and the Hermes kid looked at the son of Nike in disbelief, and outrage on James' part, but reluctantly followed him back to the others.

* * *

Zoë, Phoebe, Annabeth, and the four other hunters appeared approximately 30 meters from the Wolf House. Annabeth, unaccustomed to such travel, grasped her stomach and leaned against the nearest support.

"Let's not do that again," she said weakly. Zoë, Phoebe, and the others merely shook their heads to clear away the dizziness and looked towards the decimated home of Jack London.

While taking in the surrounding area, Zoë saw several shadowy figures moving towards the building. Due to the distance and dim lighting, she couldn't make out what they were, but she had a pretty good guess.

"They're already here," she whispered to Phoebe.

Following her friend's gaze, Phoebe saw the figures as well. "Then what are we waiting for, we need to stop them from starting a war."

Zoë placed a hand on the other hunter's shoulder. "Yes, but let's not start one in our haste to prevent another," she said. "We need to be fast but discreet."

Phoebe nodded and motioned for the other hunters to move out. Clinging to the shadows and moving with as much speed as possible, the seven females advanced on the Wolf House. They reached the outer wall undetected and prepared to enter.

"Okay, here's the plan," Zoë began. However, raised voices within the building ended her speech before it had begun.

"I don't know who you think you are, but you presume far too much," a male voice said inside.

"Listen, just tell us where she is and we'll be on our way," another voice said.

Annabeth gasped softly. "That's Shawn," she said. "We need to get in there now."

Zoë hesitated for a moment before nodding. The hunters rounded the nearest corner and entered through a broken wall. Finding cover further within, they watched the events unfold helplessly.

"I'm telling you, we don't know this girl," a blonde boy in a purple shirt said to another boy in Greek battle armor.

"Don't lie to me, Roman," Shawn retorted angrily. He drew his sword from its scabbard. "If you won't tell us willingly, then we'll take the information from you."

The Roman boy's body went rigid with anger. He reached into his pocket and flipped a golden coin into the air. When it landed in his hand, it was no longer a coin but a golden sword. The flames of a nearby fire danced off the blade and caused golden light to flash across the walls.

"Go ahead and try," he said as he too raised his weapon. Behind both figures, people were stepping forth and drawing weapons for the inevitable battle.

Shawn took the first step. His sword arm went up and he raced towards the Roman warrior with blood in his thoughts.

"Shawn, NO!" Annabeth shouted, but it was too late.

* * *

From the shadows of the ruins, Arianna Veil watched with avid fascination. As swords left their scabbards and the tips of spears gleamed in the firelight, she couldn't remember a happier time.

"That's right, go to war," she murmured to herself as the two leaders ran towards each other. "Plunge this world into Chaos. My mother commands it."

As the blades of the two warriors drew ever closer to each other, Arianna knew that nothing could stop her now.

* * *

A/N the story idea for this fic belongs to Anonemuss14. Please thank her for writing such an excellent story.


	15. Beginning of the End

A/N there is an explanation for updates and another a/n at bottom.

**Chapter 15: Beginning of the End**

Gold and bronze blades clashed. Arrows flew and shields cracked. The Romans tried to hold back the Greeks with a shield wall, but they were losing ground at an alarming rate. The only good thing was that no one had died yet. Away from the main fighting, Jason and Shawn met each other blow for blow as they each tried to kill the other. Hidden amongst the ruins of the Wolf House, pure glee shone in the silvery eyes of the daughter of Eris.

The hunters tried to help in any way they could, but it was almost a futile effort. No matter how many demigods were knocked unconscious by their blunt arrows, another two would come forward to fight.

"This isn't working, Zoë," Phoebe said as she notched her last arrow. "Any ideas?"

Zoë glanced at her old friend and Phoebe was surprised to see fear and despair in her dark eyes. "I don't know," she admitted. "We can't subdue them all, but we also can't kill any of them. What about you? Do you have any ideas?" The last question was directed towards Annabeth.

The daughter of Athena was too busy scanning the battlefield to respond. In her eyes, the situation did look hopeless. The Romans were powerful and were defeating many of the Greeks, but they would lose by sheer numbers. Glancing over at the fight between Shawn and Jason, her heart dropped even more. Although Shawn had obviously taken several serious injuries, he was still pressing the attack and forcing Jason on the defensive. Unless something happened soon, the outcome of the battle would be decided in a matter of moments.

Annabeth shook her head sadly. "I'm sorry, but there's nothing we can do," she said. "We'll need nothing less than a miracle."

"Well, I hope I can work in place of a miracle then," a voice said from behind the hunters. Four of them whirled around in surprise while the fifth rolled her eyes at his attempt make an entrance.

"Nice of you to show up, Percy," Zoë said sarcastically, but her eyes were still locked on to the carnage before her.

Percy walked up to stand beside her, not so much as glancing at the other hunters. "What are we looking at, Zoë?" he asked.

"I have to say that it's a 7," she replied.

"Really, it looks more like a 5 to me," Percy said.

Zoë sighed. "No, Mumbai was a 5, but this is clearly a 7," she argued.

Percy looked at her incredulously. "You think that this is worse that a massive dragon trying to destroy India's largest city?" he asked.

"Well, you can't fix this problem by dropping the Arabian Sea on it," Zoë said. "If at all possible, we can't kill any of them."

Percy scanned to battlefield for several minutes before nodding slowly. "Okay, follow my lead," he said.

Before he could enact whatever plan he had concocted, Annabeth jumped forward and clamped her hand on Percy's arm. As Percy turned to face her, fear and pain was visible in his eyes for a brief moment.

"Percy, please stop," she begged. "I need to..."

Percy raised a hand to stop her. "Annabeth, I'm sorry, truly I am, but we can't talk now," he said sadly. "I promise, once this is taken care of, I'll explain everything."

Annabeth looked to be on the verge of tears, but fought them back and nodded. "Okay, but you had better keep that promise," she said with a slight quiver in her voice. "Don't die, Seaweed Brain."

Percy smiled sadly at his old nickname. He hadn't heard it in nearly 500 years. "I promise," he repeated before disappearing into a sea mist.

For a reason she couldn't fully explain, Zoë felt... irritated when Percy had smiled at Annabeth. She knew that they had once been close, but that time was long since gone. After all, she had known Percy for over a hundred years while Annabeth could only claim five years. Why did she feel... not jealous, but something akin to it just now. She shook her head to rid herself of those thoughts. Now was neither the time, nor the place for them.

The battle was reaching its climax. While no one had actually died yet, thank the gods, the Romans were at their breaking point and Shawn was in the process of finishing off Jason. The Roman praetor's shield was in pieces and his sword arm was on fire from blocking the constant blows from his enemy. Although he had been fighting for just as long and much more aggressively, Shawn hadn't wavered at all during his fight. If not for the sweat and blood that covered his body, it would be impossible to tell that he had been fighting at all.

His arm rose one more time to block a strike from Shawn, but it was useless. Shawn's strike broke through Jason's weakened defense and the golden gladius clattered to the ground. Raising his sword one last time, the son of Nike prepared to deliver the final blow. His sword was in mid swing when a second, silver blade halted its path.

"That's enough, Shawn," Percy said in deathly calm voice. Shawn could only stare in naked astonishment at his former mentor. His sword fell to the ground and he reached out a tentative hand, as if to prove that the man before him was real.

"Percy..." he said in a hoarse whisper. He hadn't realized how dry his throat was, or how sore his arms were, or how weak his legs had become. The world spun around him and the floor rushed up to meet him.

Percy managed to catch him and checked his pulse. The pulse was so fast that it was almost a constant rhythm, but it was already starting to slow down. He gently laid his friend on the ground and looked at the son of Jupiter beside him; he too had succumbed to exhaustion. Looking towards the rest of the fighting, Percy lightly tapped the ground with his foot. Though not large enough to damage the already broken structure around them, the small earthquake was large enough to halt the fighting and cast the warriors to the ground. In the ensuing silence, dozens of pairs of eyes turned to him and looked at him with mixed awe, surprise, and trepidation.

"Enough, no more fighting," Percy said to the small crowd of demigods.

"Percy, is that you?" Connor Stoll asked in amazement. Percy nodded and a wave of muttering swept through the Greeks. Many had heard stories of Perseus Jackson, but they had also heard that he was dead.

"Connor, I need you to get everyone out of here," Percy said. "That means the Romans as well. They're not your enemies."

Connor looked as though he wanted to protest, but a stern look from Percy quelled it. "Alright, we can do that," he said as Travis stood up beside him.

The two sons of Hermes walked among the groups of warriors, offering aid to Greeks and Romans alike. Though hesitant, the Romans accepted the help and offered some of their own. It was as if the battle had never happened. Throughout it all, Percy's eyes were locked on a single position within the shadows of the Wolf House. Though invisible to most, Arianna couldn't hide from him.

"So, what are we going to do now?" Connor asked. Barely had the words left his mouth that the sound of marching feet could be heard close by, and getting closer.

"Now, we need to move," Percy said. "Get everyone out of here and to safety. Take them back to the camp if you must, but we need to leave."

Connor nodded and ran off. Percy wasn't left alone for long. "I know you," a voice said to him.

Percy turned and came face to face with the second praetor, Reyna. During his time with Chronus, the primordial god had told Percy about Camp Jupiter and its leaders. He remembered now that Reyna, and he sister, Hylla, had been present at Circe's Spa when he and Annabeth had gone there.

"Circe's Spa, yes?" Percy answered.

Reyna glared at him and nodded. "What happened to you?" She asked. "That was fourteen years ago, yet you look to be only eighteen, at least."

Percy's mouth twitched into a small smile for a moment before becoming stoic once more. "I do have to answer for that, don't I?" he said. "Much to answer for, and much to explain. In fact, if I took the time now, we would be here all night."

Reyna continued to glare at the son of Poseidon, but she could take a hint. "Fine, we'll discuss this later," she said in a tone that left no room for argument. She left to be replaced by Zoë.

"There's a large group of Legionnaires coming from the west," she said. "It must be reinforcements."

"Hmm," Percy's eyes were locked on the shadows once more. Zoë followed his gaze and saw a glint of silver from the darkness.

"She's up there, isn't she," it wasn't a question.

Percy nodded. "I'll need your help this time, Zoë," he said. "We can't let her get away this time."

"What about the Romans?" she asked. "I don't think that we'll be able to reason with them."

"Perhaps..." Percy said absently. "She orchestrated this you know. This is nothing but a game to her, and we are her pieces."

"Are you the other player?" Zoë asked. She hoped that Percy would say that he was, but he shook his head.

"No, I have no idea who she's playing against," Percy said. "But, she's not our immediate problem. That insane augur will be here at any minute and negotiating won't work with him."

"So, what are our other options, run and hide?" It wasn't meant as an actual question, but Percy treated it as such.

"More or less," he answered. "Fighting back will only strengthen his cause."

"Running won't help us either," Zoë said. "If they arrive and find their comrades missing, with obvious signs of battle everywhere, they'll come to the conclusion that makes the most sense."

Percy nodded. "True, but what other choice do we have?" he asked.

Zoë didn't have an answer to that question. "I suppose that you're right, for once," she joked, but her heart wasn't in it.

Percy smiled slightly, but their situation was not yet light-hearted enough for jokes. He knew that, at least for this battle, Ari had won. If they stayed, there'd be war, but if they left, then there'd be war too. Percy didn't know if this was luck on her part, or if she had actually planned it out. Either way, it was checkmate.

With a sigh, Percy walked off into the ruins. Zoë followed him with her eyes, but made no attempt to stop him. She knew him well enough to know that it was best to let him be alone for times like these. Besides, the others still needed help and she was just the person to offer it.

In a secluded part of the Wolf House, Percy stood alone and waited. He wasn't sure if what he was waiting for would come, but he hoped that they would. Sure enough, after nearly a minute of silence, another person walked up and stood beside him.

"Beautiful night, isn't it," Ari said calmly.

"Not really, there's too much violence for my tastes," Percy replied in an equally calm tone.

Ari laughed lightly. "Violence is beautiful, Perseus," she said. "You just have to look at it the right way."

"Believe me, I've seen all manner of violence from any angle you can think of," Percy said. "There's nothing beautiful about it."

"Well, to each their own, I suppose," Ari replied dismissively. "However, you obviously wanted to talk, so talk."

Percy had yet to turn and face the daughter of Eris. His eyes remained fixed on the moon through a hole in the roof. "I just wanted to ask why," Percy said. "Why would you do something like this? Who stands to gain?"

"You know, there doesn't have to be a method to the madness, Perseus," Ari said. "I do what I do for the sake of chaos."

"That's not much of a reason," Percy commented.

Ari sighed. "What does it matter?" she asked. "You still intend to kill me and 'restore order'. But, what you fail to understand is that chaos and violence will still flourish after I'm gone. Not that you shall actually be able to kill me, but I'm open to any possibility."

"I'm going to defeat you and you shall pay for your crimes, Ari," Percy said.

"Naturally," Ari responded, but she didn't sound like she was taking the threat seriously.

"You don't believe me?" Percy asked, though he wasn't surprised by her answer.

Ari laughed again. "Don't take too long, Perseus," she said. "As patient as I am, I still have my limits."

Percy looked over her shoulder, but there was no one there. Ari had already left. He remained there for a moment longer before returning to the main area. He was pleased to see that most of the wounded had been treated and evacuations were in progress. Unfortunately, the other Romans were perhaps three… four minutes from arriving; that wasn't enough time to get everyone out.

Seeing Zoë tending to a camper across the room, he walked over and knelt beside her. "We're out of time," he said. "We need to get more."

Zoë looked up at him curiously. "What did you have in mind?" she asked.

In answer, Percy rose and beckoned her to follow him. Zoë had another camper take over the treatment and followed her friend. First, they sought out Connor and Travis.

"Connor, how soon can everyone be out of here?" Percy asked once they found them.

The son of Hermes looked across the room, taking in information and crunching numbers. "Another ten minutes, if we hurry," he responded.

Percy nodded. "Zoë and I can handle that. Good luck."

"Wait, what are you going to do?" he asked.

Percy sighed. "There's no way around it, we need to stall the Romans," he said, hating every word. "I'll try diplomacy, but it'll be a miracle if it actually works."

Connor nodded and shared a glance with his brother. "I'd ask if you need help, but something tells me that you can handle these Romans," Connor said.

Percy's face darkened. "It's not the Romans I'm worried about," he said and left with Zoë on his heels.

* * *

Octavian was in a very good mood. It hadn't taken much to convince Jason and Reyna to go to the Wolf House. In fact, it was they that insisted on bringing along their closest friends and allies. It had taken even less effort to gather the rest of the legion and rush off to their "rescue". So far, everything was going exactly as Chaos had said. The only thing that could make this day better was a bit of Greek blood on his blade.

Grinning smugly, Octavian advanced towards the Wolf House with the First and Second Cohorts behind him. He might have brought the other three, but he didn't want to risk them suspecting anything or asking questions. Also, he simply couldn't stand them. The Wolf House was just coming into view when a peculiar sight stopped him in his tracks. Standing between him and his triumph were two people. One of them, a boy, looked to be around eighteen and had messy black hair and piercing green eyes. The other, a girl, had black hair that was wound into a long braid and dark eyes. Somehow, they seemed extremely out of place here.

"Are they the enemy, sir?" Larry, the Senior Centurion of the Second Cohort, asked.

"Possibly, stay on your guard," he answered as he began walking towards the pair.

"Who are you, and what business do you have on Roman land?" he asked. He wasn't entirely sure, but something told him that these were not the people he had been sent to eliminate.

"Octavian, Haruspex of Camp Jupiter I presume," the boy said.

Octavian looked blankly at the boy for several seconds. His mind was still stuck on the second word.

"Um, what did you call me?" he asked with equal amounts of confusion and indignation.

"A Haruspex, a diviner who foretells the future through the entrails of animals," the boy explained. "Is that not what you do?"

"Well, yes, but the proper term is Augur," the flustered Roman said.

The girl rolled her eyes. "No, Augury is the practice of divination through watching birds and the heavens," she said in bored tone. "A glorified butcher like you is referred to as a Haruspex."

"Well, I…" Octavian said awkwardly. "Who are you people?"

"That's not your concern, Augur," the boy said, adding heavy sarcasm with the final word.

"I beg to differ," Octavian responded. He was getting quite annoyed now. "I am—"

The girl cut him off. "A pathetic excuse for a Roman soldier? I couldn't agree more," she said with that same bored voice.

Octavian was beyond annoyed now. He was absolutely seething with anger. "You would do well to watch your words, girl," he said through clenched teeth.

The girl narrowed her eyes at him. "As would you, boy," she responded.

Octavian had had enough. Walking stiffly back to his troops, he looked his fellow Centurion in the eye and said two words. "Kill them."

Larry nodded and put on his helmet. "Already men, let's send 'em to Pluto in as many tiny pieces as possible," he said. As one, the two Cohorts under his command unsheathed their swords and locked together their shields. Even though there were only two of them, Larry could recognize two seasoned warriors when he saw them. He wasn't going to take unnecessary risks with these two.

He and his fellow legionnaires marched forward a few meters, ready to grind the two strangers into dust, but came to a stop when the boy vanished into a cloud of mist. Taken by surprise, the tight formation of legionnaires began to crumble.

"Get back in formation!" Larry ordered.

"Too late," a voice said behind him. Acting on reflex, Larry spun in a circle and swung his gladius blindly. It met empty air as the raven-haired boy ducked under the swing. As if from thin air, a silver sword appeared in his hand and he used the pummel to knock the Centurion unconscious.

"Who's next?" the boy asked the stunned legionnaires. They had never seen anyone defeat Larry so swiftly or with such ease. However, they let their anger take over and rushed forward in much less order than before.

Rolling his eyes, Percy sidestepped a legionnaire and blocked the strike of a second. He shoved him away only to be confronted by another. Partially turning himself into vapor, Percy allowed the legionnaire's sword to go through him harmlessly. Although it would only be too easy to kill the poor fool in front of him, Percy limited himself to simply knocking him unconscious. Without missing a beat, the son of Poseidon moved from one opponent to another, either incapacitating or inflicting minor injuries as he went.

While the Legion was focused on Percy, Zoë took advantage of their ignorance and attacked from behind. Her Adamantine hunting knives moved like two silver blurs through the Roman ranks, cutting through Imperial Gold armor like butter to inflict minor injuries. Even when some of the legionnaires noticed her and tried to fight back, they quickly found themselves severely outmatched.

With Percy on one side, and Zoë on the other, the Second Cohort could do nothing as they were torn apart by the two servants of Khaos. All the while, Octavian looked on with both disbelief and admiration. If he could somehow persuade these two to join him, then none would ever be able to challenge him. The ideas were already swirling around in his head; he could see his future as a praetor, as a war hero, as an Emperor.

"Don't get carried away with your wild fantasies," a familiar voice said.

"Chaos?" Octavian asked. He looked around, but couldn't identify the speaker. Surely it wasn't one of his comrades in the First Cohort.

"Listen carefully, Augur," Chaos said. "Although you've failed in the original plan, things are still salvageable. For now, you must retreat to Camp Jupiter. Rally your comrades so as to avenge the humiliation done to the Legion here."

"So, these two are Greeks?" Octavian asked.

"In a manner of speaking," Chaos answered impatiently. "For now, you must retreat. At the very least, they intend to capture you and prevent you from leading Camp Jupiter. At the worst… well, I'll let your mind conjure up what it will."

Frightened by the possibility of capture or death, Octavian began to lose grasp of coherent thought. He didn't want to die, but retreat wasn't an option either. He would look like a fool in front of the entire camp. Even if it meant bringing the entire Legion down with him, he would not be overcome by two Greeks.

He was about to order a full charge when a searing pain ripped through his head. "I have no use for fools, Augur," Chaos said calmly. "It's a shame it had to come to this, but I can't have a puppet that tries to make its own decisions. Goodbye, fool." As those last words echoed through his mind, he felt everything within him break, as if a single chord that held him together had been cruelly severed and now he was falling apart into so many pieces of dust.

However, this was not the case to the rest of the Legion. To them, their leader was simply taking his time in deciding their next course of action. "We've been routed," he said at last in a vacant voice. "Retreat for now, but we shall have our revenge on the Greeks for what they have done to us this day."

Although surprised by the order, the remaining legionnaires obeyed and retreated hastily from the Wolf House, leaving their fallen comrades to meet whatever fate befell them.

Having taken care of the Second Cohort, Percy and Zoë looked up to see the remaining Romans in full retreat. Percy shook his head in disgust.

"Pathetic, the Twelfth Legion I knew would never run from a battle, no matter how impossible the odds," he said.

Zoë shrugged. "I guess a lot can change in two thousand years," she said. "But, I didn't think that whelp would have the common sense to actually cut his losses."

"He didn't," a chilling voice said. Percy and Zoë turned simultaneously to see Arianna Veil standing before them. She held her dagger in her left hand and was twirling it leisurely.

"That idiot was prepared to sacrifice the entire Legion so he wouldn't have to admit defeat," the daughter of Eris said. "Of course, a dead Legion does nothing to help me, so I had to… persuade the diviner to do otherwise."

Percy glared at Ari from across the small distance. "What did you do, Ari?" he asked.

She smiled smugly. "A magician never reveals her secrets," she said slyly. "But, enough smoke and mirrors. Let's get to the main act."

Giving her knife one last twirl, it elongated into a bronze sword. Tapping a bracelet on her wrist, a bronze shield spiraled into existence on Ari's right arm. Percy raised Riptide and Zoë crouched into a defensive position, her hunting knives at the ready.

Overhead, dark clouds began to gather, as if nature itself could foresee the imminent battle. Lighting flashed and the battle began.

* * *

A/N the story idea for this fic belongs to Anonemuss14. Please thank her for writing such an excellent story.

Also, I will be uploading ch 16 tomorrow 6/7/2013, sometime around noon maybe. I might be able to do it tonight but don't take my word for it. Tomorrow's a definite and tonight a maybe. Ch 16 will be a blend of my work with the last but no less splendid work of Anonemuss14. Please leave questions concerns or comments that I will forward to Anonemuss14 on your way out.


	16. Limit

A/N First part of the chapter still belongs to Anonemuss14 as should be obvious by how awesome it is written. Do tell me what you think of the parts I wrote though.

* * *

**Part Three: Rise**

_"Even if you kill me, nothing will change. Chaos shall reign, and you will burn."_

* * *

_**Chapter Sixteen: Limit**_

Lightning flashed and the battle began. Zoë was in front of Ari before the light had died. Her hunting knives whistled as the severed the air in their path to Ari. A brief expression of surprise appeared on the daughter of Eris' face before she raised her shield to block the knives.

It was a brave effort, but the bronze shield was like tissue paper against the razor edge of the adamantine knives. Without slowing, they cut two thin gouges vertically down the face of the shield. Ari jumped back and examined her shield. She looked surprised, but also annoyed at the damage done.

"Impressive, but not good enough," she said. Removing her shield from her arm, she did what Percy had done so long ago in the Labyrinth; she threw the shield right at Zoë as if throwing a disc.

Zoë ducked underneath the shield with ease, but left herself defenseless in the process. As the bronze disc flew over her head, time seemed to slow down and a flash of light to her left caught her eye. Glancing up, she saw the blade of Ari's sword racing down towards her. It would have killed her, but the sword was met by another blade.

Percy had watched as Zoë charged in recklessly to fight Ari. Though he was annoyed at her underestimation of Ari's skill, he was more concerned for what might happen to her. Sure enough, Riptide was only just quick enough to save her. Using as much strength as he could, Percy pushed Ari back and gave Zoë a moment to gather her bearings.

"That… didn't go as planned," Zoë said dryly.

"Don't do that, Zoë," Percy chastised. "Ari is not to be taken lightly; and if something were to happen to you…"

Zoë was saddened by disappointing her friend, but also touched by his concern for her. It was almost like when Lady Artemis would berate her for getting in too big of a fight, only to hug her in relief that she had survived immediately afterwards.

"Okay, Percy," she said sincerely. "I'll follow your lead."

During their discussion, Ari had begun to laugh. "That is truly touching, Perseus," she said between bouts of laughter. "I never knew that you had such a love for Hunters. First, our friend Annabeth Chase; and now the lovely Miss Nightshade."

Percy glared at Ari, but otherwise didn't react to her words.

"We'll beat her together, Zoë," Percy whispered. "First, we'll try what we did in Damascus. If that doesn't work, we go to plan B."

"Plan B?" Zoë asked nervously. "You can't be serious, Percy. That's suicide."

Percy sighed sadly. "Hopefully it won't come to that."

Zoë glared half-heartedly at her friend, but the thought of him dead prevented her from really being angry.

"Well, now that the warm-up is over, shall we get started?" Ari asked.

"After you," Percy replied venomously.

Ari smiled and melted into the shadows.

Percy's eyes began to flit about frantically and his body tensed up before he forced himself to calm down. He relaxed his muscles and closed his eyes. Darkness and silence, that was his world now. Zoë only needed to glance at the son of Poseidon for a moment before she realized what he was doing. She went completely still and tried not to breath; the less noise made, the better.

For several seconds, Percy remained still and listened. Even without his eyes, he knew everything that surrounded him. He knew that Zoë was next to him, trying to remain as quiet as possible. He knew that the campers and Romans must have all evacuated, because no sound emanated from the Wolf House. He knew that Ari had just risen from a shadow behind him. Spinning around, he placed Riptide between himself and an unseen blade. Metal clashed as they met.

Ari wasted no time recovering from her surprise.

She spun around and slammed the hilt of her sword into Zoë's temple. Then she turned to fight Percy. She pressed the attack and Percy couldn't do much aside from defending. It was only by luck that he was pushed away from Zoe, putting her away from danger.

Duck, block, dodge, counter, and block again, the cycle continued on for an immeasurable amount of time. Occasionally, Ari would switch to a different weapon to confuse Percy; it worked more often that Percy liked to admit.

"What's the matter, Perseus?" Ari asked as she forced him back with a spear. "It was only yesterday that I couldn't even touch you, but now…" Ari paused to slam the butt of the spear into Percy's face. He stumbled back and only just managed to block another strike.

"Don't play games with me," Perseus," Ari warned. "I want nothing better than your best effort. Do not insult me by doing otherwise."

Truthfully, Percy was giving it his all. But, Ari was right that something had changed. Either Ari had gotten faster and stronger in the brief time, or…. Percy had gotten weaker. The thought troubled him so much that he momentarily forgot about Ari. This was a mistake.

Even if his guard was down for only a second, it was enough for Ari. Knocking Riptide from his hand, Ari slammed the blunt end of her spear into Percy's abdomen. As he began to double over in pain and surprise, Ari grabbed his hair and threw him to the ground.

Dazed from pain, Percy looked past the dark spots in his vision to see Ari smiling down at him smugly. She spun her spear and it became a sword.

"You disappoint me, Perseus," she said. "But, I suppose that this outcome was inevitable." Ari raised her sword to finish him off, but hesitated.

For the briefest instant, the smug look of victory was replaced by doubt. Then it transformed into surprise and Ari leapt back. Where she had been, a black blade appeared from a nearby shadow. The sword was followed by a twenty-three year old man in a dark leather jacket and darker hair.

"Sorry I'm late," Nico said as he offered Percy a hand. Percy climbed to his feet and uncapped Riptide, which had returned to his pocket.

"What are you doing here?" he asked, but he wasn't angry or ungrateful. In fact, Percy was very happy that Nico had arrived when he had.

"Saving your life, apparently," Nico replied without taking his dark eyes off of Ari. "Zoë is fine by the way. I don't know how bad of an injury it is, but it's not life threatening."

Keeping his feelings of relief within himself for now, Percy nodded. "Thank you, that's good to hear," he said sincerely.

"It won't do much good if we die though," he said. "Let's send this bitch to Tartarus, eh?"

"Sounds like a plan," Percy replied.

"If you two are done, I'd like to leave at some point tonight," Ari said impatiently. "Unfortunately, I can't do that with you two around."

Nico didn't reply he only settled into a defensive stance. Percy too was done with talking. Eerily similar to how Zoe and Percy started the fight, lightning flashed once more.

Ari didn't let the same tricks work twice and disappeared with the lightning. Nico and Percy too disappeared, one into shadows the other into water vapor. Thunder caught up to the lightning and boomed across the sky.

The thunder marked the return of Percy and Ari, swords crossed. The sound of blades clashing masked by thunder.

She smirked and used his own trick against him, letting herself fall backwards and making Percy lose his balance. As she fell she twirled her sword and transformed it into a dagger which she used to try and stab him.

Only superior reflexes honed with hundreds of years of training saved Percy as he disappeared into water vapor again. Nico reappeared in his place and attempted to stab Ari as she lay on the ground.

Once again she disappeared. The two boys followed suit quickly after.

It was comparable to a game of whack-a-mole except infinitely more dangerous between the three. Where one appeared another would try and end their life. Nico would attempt to hold Ari so Percy could stab her only for her to disappear.

Neither of the older boys could stay still for long or risk Ari attempting to do the same to them. Over and over each of the fighters vanished, resurfaced and clashed blades.

But Percy was growing tired. Every reappearance his strikes were slowing, Ari was forcing him to defend more and more and Nico had to bail him out more often.

"What's the matter Perseus? Weren't you the one that declared he would 'restore order'." Ari taunted, pressing her assault.

"Shut. Up." Nico snarled as he tried to jump in and stab Ari only to have his attempt fail. "Percy, get your head in the game. This is no time to daydream."

'_I did say that. So why… why can't I prevail? Is this my limit? Will chaos negate order?' _Percy was sinking into despair. Confusion for why he wasn't keeping up as well as the day before made him frantic.

All warriors had a moment of weakness, a single event that shook their beliefs, that poisoned their confidence. If left alone it would disappear and they could overcome it. If however, it was exploited, and cultivated it could be the catalyst to their demise.

Ari was sharp enough to see a chink in his armor and take advantage. First though, she had to rid herself of her other opponent. "You're annoying di Angelo. Let's see how quick you are to lend a hand when I give you a matching set." She smirked viciously and feinted a swipe at Nico's gloved hand before she twirled her sword, formed a spear and attempted to use the extra length to stab Nico's other shoulder.

Percy reacted. Instantly moving forward to intercept the spear. Not fast enough though. Ari didn't pierce his entire shoulder as before but still managed to wound Nico.

Nico forced himself backwards and off the spear entrenched in his shoulder. He let out a sharp breath of pain and tried to staunch the bleeding as he fell to the floor.

"I can't let you walk away from this Ari. You have hurt too many already and don't look like you plan on stopping anytime soon. You show no regret either." Percy decided to quit playing their dangerous game of cat and mouse. It was draining him too quickly for him to keep it up.

Ari laughed and jumped back to get some space. "Why would I regret my plans going off without a hitch Perseus?"

The oldest looking demigod of the bunch slowly got to his feet. The wound wasn't as bad as it could have been but he couldn't exactly shake it off either. He hissed in pain as he slowly switched the sword to his other arm. "Any plans to handle her Percy?"

"None will work. You can't win. Romans and Greeks will fight. Olympus will burn and Chaos will flourish. Let's stop pretending you can stop it now and get back to what we were doing." Ari spoke up, growing tired of how long it was taking to finish things.

Percy didn't wait for her to make the first move and rushed Ari. Nico fell into step behind him as neither wanted to give Ari a chance to escape.

"I'm tired of this. Tired of your pathetic attempts to stop me. I told you I would kill you next time you interfered Perseus. You should have never come after me again." Ari said menacingly as she made no move to either avoid or engage the two boys.

She closed her eyes and when she opened them again they were completely black like before. Wind picked up around her, putting the miniature hurricanes Percy could conjure to shame. Unlike last time though, this was much more controlled, it wasn't done in anger and rage with Ari letting her emotions loose. No, she kept a tight rein on her power and how she was using it.

Nico stumbled as he lost his balance and abandoned his charge. Percy kept going, hoping and trusting that Khaos had done _something_ to him after their meeting. Chronus had said he worked in mysterious ways and that theory was about to be tested.

Percy forced his way through the winds surrounding Ari and swung his blade at her neck. She stopped the sword with her own. No matter how hard Percy pressed he couldn't bring it closer.

"You're weak." Ari stated, "You're weak and cannot hope to beat me. Not here. Not now. Not ever."

He tried valiantly to ignore her words but the sword was no closer to cutting Ari than before. In fact it was being pushed away slowly, but leisurely at Ari's dictated pace.

"No one can stop me. No being of this earth can stop me, no matter how much you claim to be able to. It doesn't matter what false hopes you cling to, it won't happen." She reiterated.

Slowly his confidence was crumbling. How could it not? She seemed to be able to hold him off so easily. It was like she was playing with them the entire time. Zoe was down for the count and Nico couldn't hope to get in to help.

'_No. No no no. This can't be it. I trained for hundreds of years for this moment. Was it not enough? Didn't I train hard enough? Was it all for nothing?'_ Percy tried to push forward and defeat Ari, the same little girl he himself had brought to camp all those years ago, but his strength and perhaps his resolve was crumbling.

Ari stared deep into his eyes. Gaze unflinching, her bottomless all consuming eyes bore into his own emerald pools full of emotion. Finally she blinked and pushed him off. The winds kept pounding Percy but he seemed not to care, barely making an effort to get back to his feet.

"How can you beat me Perseus, if you can't even stand before me. If you can't even rise above the rest of the people here. Look around you," She swept her arm around her to indicate the fallen Romans that the legion left behind in their haste to retreat, "you've failed no matter how you look at things. Roman blood has been spilt. Who do you think they will blame once word reaches the legion of their Praetors being attacked?"

Percy looked at their battlefield, whether it was her intention or not, their battle had torn it to shreds. Not only that but he was sure that a few Roman's had died because of her most recent display of power. Even Nico was knocked out, and he didn't know Zoe's fate after losing track of her.

"I have to beat you." Percy said shakily even as the winds and earth shook and battered him. "I am-"

"Order" An unknown but overwhelming voice spoke. Darkness surrounded them. Not the familiar darkness that night brought but an all encompassing suffocating kind. Even Ari was startled by the turn of events.

As fast as it fell on them it disappeared but so did the storm and power that Ari had been using. Her eyes were no longer pitch black but back to the familiar silver. She looked around warily for another opponent, anyone that could explain what had happened. She flexed her fingers experimentally and tried to conjure a flame in her hand. Nothing happened.

"Tch. I suppose that means it isn't quite time to kill you yet Perseus." Ari scoffed as she turned to walk away. "Consider yourself lucky. You should thank whoever it is that helped you just now; otherwise you would be greeting Charon even now, bartering for passage across the River Styx."

'_Khaos.'_ Percy called out. He received no answer but knew for a fact it was him. Already having been in his presence once, he recognized the power that had overwhelmed him and Ari seconds earlier.

Tears of shame and frustration ran down his cheeks. He had failed again. Thought that he was ready but been effortlessly pushed back. Yet Khaos had interfered. He must've believed in him if he didn't allow Percy to die.

Percy punched the ground in anger. Anger at himself for losing faith, anger at his momentary weakness and anger at letting Ari get away. _'No more. If Khaos believes in me there must be a reason. I was tasked with bringing Order to Chaos. Khaos himself spoke that word as he quelled Ari's power… but right now I have to deal with this.'_

He looked around at everything and everyone around him. His first order of business was seeing that the injured were tended to and then trying to stop Ari's plans. Slowly and painfully he got to his feet and checked on Nico.

He was pale but would live. Passed out from blood loss and exhaustion most likely but had at least managed to wrap his wound. Zoe was a little harder to find but she was only unconscious and likely suffered no more than a concussion.

As quickly as he could he carried Zoe over by Nico. Sparing one last look at his surroundings he placed his hands on both his friends and disappeared into water vapor. It was exhausting but he made it to Olympus. He had to try and send what little help he could to the injured Romans.

Hopefully it would get there in time. For now, they had to decide on their next step on how to stop Ari. There were so many things to do, talk to Reyna as he promised, Annabeth too, and he owed an explanation to Camp Half-blood now that Shawn and Connor Stoll had seen him.

Whatever was in store, he had to face it. Next time he would not fail. Next time he would be stronger. Because he'd learned a valuable lesson today, or at least had been pointed on the right path. He was one step closer to achieving that which Khaos had faith he would.

* * *

A/N As I've repeatedly mentioned, I adopted this story from the great writer Anonemuss14. She crafted a masterpiece and has generously allowed me some liberty to play with the world she created. Please send her thanks and read her other story.

As I mentioned in my own story 'Faded Past, Renewed Future' I am going back to my weekly updating schedule. Or at least I'll try to stick to that. What will most likely happen is I will switch between this story and my own when I update. I've been unleashed on the real world folks so unfortunately can't spend all summer writing fics like I would like to. A real job and real bills demand my attention. Mostly student loans. Oh the humanity!

As always please leave any questions, comments or concerns on your way out. I realize our writing style is slightly different, I choose to point out and elaborate on unspoken actions while anonemuss14 lets you draw your own conclusions from dialogue but as I said, she is the better writer and hopefully I can at least make a passable attempt at continuing her work.


	17. Resolve

Disclaimer: Not the owner of PJO or receive any of its benefits, unfortunately.

**Chapter Seventeen: Resolve**

The city that never sleeps. What a fitting place for Olympus to be located in. Olympus also had that general feeling that New York City gave off. That vibe that no matter the hour someone somewhere was doing something productive, that the city was never truly at rest.

Even now as he gazed upon the Grecian architecture, the temples carved out of marble, Percy could sense the restrained energy, vibrating within Olympus. The restless feel that exuded hidden activity and let you know something was going on even if it wasn't visible.

Percy stepped out of the elevator, Zoë limping alongside him. She woke up on the way up but had to lean on Percy's shoulder to walk. Nico was still passed out and Percy had him in a fireman's carry, as he made his way into the city.

Luckily his shoulder wound had stopped bleeding after it was wrapped. Unluckily that either meant it was due to Nico's godly heritage or equally as likely it was due to the massive blood loss from such a huge injury.

This time Percy didn't stop to admire the work of his ex-girlfriend and now hunter Annabeth. Instead he sought out the temple of Apollo. Once there he prayed to the god of healing for a quick and speedy appearance.

Apollo, ever alert for those that entered his temple, showed up in a brief flash of light. He said nothing to Percy as he immediately took notice of both Zoë and Nico.

"Bring them over here Percy." Apollo gently commanded him, pointing to a flat stone slab off to the side in the temple.

Apollo disappeared further in his temple for a few seconds before coming back with some ambrosia and nectar. He handed the nectar and some food to Zoë. Afterwards he went over to Nico and unwrapped his makeshift bandage.

A small frown creased his features before he laid a hand over the wound. The god of the sun started to chant in ancient Greek, a song to help Nico heal. It did wonders for the son of Hades.

While Percy couldn't see the wound healing or anything, he noticed color coming back to his friend's face. No longer were his lips a borderline blue, and his skin tone pale as a sheet.

Once finished Apollo addressed Percy. "I'll go try and gather the council Percy." He sighed before continuing. "Since this isn't technically an emergency we probably won't gather until tomorrow. We do have duties of our own… well most of us."

Percy nodded. "What'll happen to Nico and Zoë?"

Apollo waved a hand in Zoë's general direction, the few cuts and bruises she had were then bandaged and wrapped. "She should be fine. She didn't come off too bad, just a minor concussion so as long as neither of you try and damage her head again she'll be fine. Nico will either stay here for the night or I will call Hades to take care of him."

Zoë looked down in shame. She wasn't hurt anywhere near as badly as Nico nor did she fight Ari as much as Percy, yet she had been the easiest and first to be taken out of commission. That was a huge blow to her pride as not only a warrior but someone that Percy had relied on in combat.

Percy laid a hand on Zoë's shoulder, to comfort her, already knowing what she was thinking. The two could read each other so well it was almost unnecessary to speak. From body language alone they could often converse and decipher each other's thoughts.

"Apollo, back at the Wolf House-" Percy started to say, determined to help the Romans still there.

The often easy-going god raised a hand to stop Percy. "Say no more Percy. We feared that you wouldn't be able to make it in time to stop the demigods of Camp Halfblood. I will send someone to help those that are injured."

Apollo wore a grim expression, fully expecting to hear about a massive bloody loss that the Greek and Roman battle had resulted in. Instead he was slightly surprised when Percy cut into his thoughts.

"There are no Greeks. Those that were injured have already started on their way back to camp. You will need to send someone from Rome to get their injured though. Zoë and I had to fight some of them but it was our fight with Ari that caused the most damage." Percy explained, clearly frustrated with his performance.

Apollo let out a small sigh of relief. It seemed that they had avoided the worst of it, for now. He left to inform Hermes to somehow get a message to Rome about their injured.

On his way out he had something to say to Zoë. "My little sis won't like that you were hurt Zoë. If you could stop by and inform her before you go that you're alright that would be awesome. I don't feel like having her mad at me for not healing you properly in her opinion."

Zoë glared lightly at the one god who always made life aggravating for her mistress. Yet she knew that he did it all to play the role of protective brother, he really did care for Artemis. "I will go inform her of what happened. Will you stay too Percy?"

Percy ran a hand through his hair and shook his head. "No. I have to get back to camp. Chiron must be informed of what's going on. Can you meet me there later on? I think I'll stay to talk to Shawn and the rest of the guys. I'm sure they have questions for me."

She nodded and reached out to squeeze his hand in reassurance. It would be difficult for him, returning to the same camp that had kicked him out all those years ago. To the place that he had risked so much to save and then it was turned against him.

Percy didn't hold a grudge against them. He didn't hate the campers. He didn't even blame them for what happened. That didn't mean he was eager to return though.

* * *

Silence greeted him as Percy stepped across the camp borders into Camp Halfblood. To the ones here, it had been little more than ten years since his banishment. To Percy it had been so long that he was almost surprised that nothing had changed.

The battle at the Wolf House had taken longer than he expected, and after that Percy had spent a fair amount on Olympus with Zoë and Nico. He stayed long enough to contact Hades who allowed Nico to stay on Olympus. The lord of the dead would join him the next day anyways for the meeting.

Suffice to say it was fairly dark out when Percy finally made it to camp and sought out Chiron. Knowing that he would likely be at the main house and needed to be informed of what was to come. Percy walked there with quick confident strides.

A few of the campers looked on curiously at the raven haired youth walking amongst them. None really recognized him but since he wasn't attacking anyone they left him alone.

He stood in front of the door of the big house, trying to gather his nerves. Percy had faced down countless monsters, trained with the mightiest of warriors, been in two fights with Ari, but it didn't quite compare to nervousness he felt at finally seeing his old teacher.

After a few more moments, Percy took in several deep breathes and knocked.

Clip clops were heard from inside, the door knob turned and the door opened slowly. The torso of a man connected to the body of a horse greet Percy. He'd forgotten how tall Chiron was compared to him.

Percy looked up and met the eyes of his immortal teacher. A small fond smile made its way onto his lips as he took in Chiron's shocked expression. No doubt Dionysus had already told him of his return to Olympus.

"Percy. My boy you're back." Chiron finally found his voice.

Before the centaur could hug him, Percy held a hand up. "As much as I would like to hug you right now, could we please take this inside Chiron?" He asked as he waved over his shoulder to indicate the few demigods that were listening intently to what was going on, surprised that the new guy walking around camp headed straight to the big house.

A few gasps were heard from the campers and more than a few ran off after hearing who the green eyed boy was. Percy was sure that soon enough the entire camp would know of his return.

His friends that had been manipulated into turning their backs on him would know. He would talk to them, but he needed to talk to Chiron first. After that, he'd handle talking to all his past friends.

"Of course, of course Percy come in." Chiron hurriedly ushered Percy inside, as if afraid he would disappear or this was just an illusion.

Dionysus was not in the big house, gods didn't need sleep really but he didn't like to stay at Camp Halfblood more than he was forced to.

As Percy took a seat across from his teacher, he noticed that the immortal centaur looked at him with regret, and slight happiness.

"Welcome back Percy. It's good to see you again." Chiron voiced happily before turning serious, "As glad as I am to see you, and much as I would like to apologize for what I did, what we all did, I fear that this isn't the happy reunion we would all like."

Percy nodded in confirmation of Chiron's suspicions. "You are correct Chiron. I take it Mr. D hasn't kept you informed about Ari and the councils actions against her." Percy inquired.

His old Latin teacher shook his head and frowned. "No. Mr. D has been rather tight lipped about Ari aside from the hunting party that went after her a few days ago. What do I need to know Percy?"

Percy leaned back into his chair and sighed, "There is a lot going on Chiron. So let me start at the beginning. This all starts 10 years ago, when you sent me on a quest…"

* * *

_Camp Jupiter_

Reyna and Jason currently sat in their office, debating on what they should do next.

"So he said he had a lot to answer for? Do you have any way to get in contact with him?" Jason asked Reyna as he paced in their shared office.

She remained in her seat but laced her fingers in front of her and leaned her chin on them. "No. I am sure we can find him if we so desire. It was obvious he didn't want violence and seemed to genuinely want for our fight with the other demigods to end with as little harm as possible. Perhaps if we just return to the Wo-"

Reyna got no further as a legionnaire burst into the praetorian gasping for air. "Th-the second co-cohort. They're back. They have wounded but O-Octavian isn't with them."

Immediately Jason and Reyna jumped to their feet and rushed out to meet the cohort at the gates. Once they got there they saw the second cohort that they had been told was lead by Octavian to the Wolf House for reinforcements.

Of course both Jason and Reyna found it suspicious that Octavian had ordered for reinforcements almost exactly the moment they needed them and without anyone sending word for help. They had both planned on confronting the silver tongued legacy of Apollo on their return and only awaited his reappearance at camp.

Instead as they got to the gates they saw wounded, bruised and beaten campers of the second cohort limping and some dragging their friends through the gate.

Reyna called for medics to aid the wounded but still wanted information. "Where is Octavian? Wasn't he the one to lead you to battle?"

"He stayed behind to cover our escape." One of the legionnaires answered. "He claimed that the Greeks would come after us to prevent our getting a message to camp so he stayed behind to delay them."

Jason frowned at that piece of information. While admirable for any Roman to do that to protect his friends and comrades, it just didn't sound like something that Octavian would actually do.

No sooner had those thoughts crossed his mind than Octavian himself appeared from the shadows of the tunnel. He was obviously wounded if the blood flowing from his mouth was any indication. He staggered towards the gates, steps faltering the closer he got.

Immediately more medics rushed to his side. Jason and Reyna also ran to ask him what had happened.

He was laid on his back and the healers of camp carefully removed his armor, to see the extent of his injuries. Octavian gasped in pain.

"What happened to you centurion? Who did this?" Reyna demanded.

The legacy of Apollo gasped and coughed a few times, spitting out blood. Frantic the healers tried to heal his wounds so he would live.

"Avenge," A pained gasp again erupted from his lips, "Avenge our brethren. The Greeks must pay for attacking us without cause."

The healer working on bandaging the large hole in his side let out a frustrated yell. Octavian ceased breathing and lived no more. Try as they might the medics hadn't been able to save him, hadn't been able to help him in time.

All the gathered Romans heard the last words spoken by the eccentric centurion.

Jason and Reyna hid their feelings behind stony expressions while others around them clearly showed rage and anger at the words. There was nothing to be done, they all wanted revenge on the ones responsible for killing a Roman.

None had noticed how vacant Octavian's voice had been at the end. He was gasping and barely able to say those words due to the pain so none had noticed.

His eyes were also suspiciously vacant, like if he wasn't in control. Yet again, no one noticed that, too concerned with saving his life.

From the shadows of the tunnel Arianna Veil smirked as her chess piece had been salvaged. Though little more than a pawn that had to be discarded for failing to do as told, even Octavian could serve a useful purpose in death.

"A minor setback Percy. That's all our little confrontation accomplished. But I am nothing if not patient. My mother has waited for this for eons, a minor setback such as this is nothing compared to that." A quiet and cold chuckle echoed throughout the tunnel.

* * *

_Camp Halfblood_

"Hey. Well I'm back at camp finally. Everything looks the same, but I guess that's to be expected. The only thing different is a few new faces I saw walking around. That and the missing familiar faces that were here before I left." Percy chuckled quietly as he reminisced.

He sat in the grass in front of the memorial at Camp Halfblood. Built after the battle of the Labyrinth to commemorate the fallen and unfortunately expanded after the battle of Olympus to honor the heroes lost that day too.

It was a token gesture. A tribute more than any real sort of graveyard to those heroes. Most had been cremated along with their shrouds as was Greek tradition.

After his talk with Chiron had ended, Percy was told he could return to his familiar quarters, to his father's cabin. Feeling restless even after the hectic day he had ended up walking around camp, letting his feet lead him wherever they willed.

Eventually he found himself at the memorial. He sat in front of it, tracing his fingers over all the names carved into the stone. Names he was familiar with, as well as other names he couldn't place a face to.

Names who he had known and fought alongside personally, names he would never speak again to catch the owners attention. Names that he memorized every time he saw this place.

"I kinda wish you were here Clarisee. I almost need someone to kick my behind into gear after what happened." He smiled bitterly as he recalled his fight with Ari. "I'm sorry I couldn't stop her earlier. I feel like all of this is in part my fault."

He needed to vent. There was currently no one at camp he felt comfortable talking to so he was unloading the weight off his chest to the memorial. Talking to his friends that were gone.

Percy sighed deeply as he ran a hand through his hair. "I can't say I'm sorry for rescuing Ari. That would be wrong. She would have been killed if I didn't do anything. But I wish I could have stopped her somehow or done something back then to change what she's doing now."

It was getting late and Percy could hear the harpies starting to do their rounds of camp. Curfew was coming up and they were only giving out a warning to return to his cabin. "I'm sorry we never got to settle which one of us was the better warrior." He chuckled as he remembered how Clarisse would often challenge him to a sword fight. "I think I was ahead on our win count."

Slowly Percy got to his feet and dusted off his jeans. He turned to go back to his cabin but had one last parting thing to say. His eyes steeled in determination and he no longer looked as burdened as when he started talking to his friends that were gone. "I know I wasn't here for when you guys needed me. I know you never really liked to take my word for things, but I promise you, I will stop Ari. I won't let her see the world burn."

He walked away from the memorial. Feeling calmer and more at peace than when he started talking. If he would have turned back to look over his shoulder, he would swear he saw all his friends that were gone standing in front of the memorial.

All looking on in approval at his determination. None doubting for a second he would keep his word.

* * *

**A/N** the story idea for this fic belongs to Anonemuss14. Please thank her for writing such an excellent story.

Here's the newest chapter of this awesome fic. Please leave all reviews, questions and comments on the way out. The wheels are in motion now, things will start to get rolling, and everyone should be excited about what's going to happen next. I know some might be disappointed in what you would consider a 'filler' chapter but I promise you that what happened here was very important. How? Well you'll find out in the future chapters


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